By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-15 12:17:48 | Updated at 2025-01-15 15:49:00
3 hours ago
The Interior Department overpaid dozens of employees to the tune of up to $400,000 of taxpayer money after the fed workers improperly claimed to be based in the DC area — but were actually scattered all over the US.
At least 48 government employees were found to have been “inappropriately” working outside the capital region despite benefiting from higher pay rates meant for employees based in and around Washington, according to a report from the department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) in response to a review requested by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).
Forty employees assigned to Interior headquarters didn’t report at least twice per pay period in fiscal year 2023 — the bare minimum needed to get locality pay, according to the watchdog report.
“As a result,” the OIG report reads, “we estimate DOI paid as much as $401,689 in annualized locality payments that may not have been allowable.”
In 2023, employees based in DC and surrounding areas received a 33.94% bump from their base pay due to the cost of living in the capital region. Only those located in and around Houston (35%), Los Angeles (36.47%), New York City (37.95%) and San Francisco (46.34%) got more generous increases.
According to a map provided in the report, some of the workers getting DC-area locality pay had been based in Alabama, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Oregon and South Carolina — among other places.
Interior Department headquarters has been found to be only 14% full on an average working day, according to a Public Buildings Reform Board report from 2024.
The Post has reached out to a department spokesperson for comment.
Ernst, 54, who helms the Senate DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) Caucus, has been a staunch proponent of cracking down on lax governmental remote work policies and underutilized government office spaces.
The Iowan released a report last year that found only 6% of the federal workforce “report in-person on a full-time basis” compared to about a third who are remote on a full-time basis.
Much of those findings were the result of work between her office and many of the 74 statutory inspector generals who supervise government departments and independent agencies.
On Wednesday, Ernst announced that she is forming a bipartisan Inspector General Caucus aimed at empowering government agency watchdogs tasked with spotting waste and fraud.
“Inspectors general serve a vital role in uncovering waste in Washington and must be empowered to continue looking out for taxpayers,” Ernst told The Post.
“From identifying billion-dollar boondoggles to exposing a federal workforce that is permanently out of office, their work has been invaluable in my decade-long mission to uncover waste and make Washington squeal,” she added, alluding to her famous 2014 campaign ad about reining in government excesses.
Ernst will lead the bipartisan caucus, while Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) will serve as co-chairs.
The Hawkeye State senator has been coordinating with DOGE leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to uncover government bloat and pursue reforms.
She believes that bolstering the dozens of inspector generals’ offices across government could be helpful in identifying those inefficiencies.
Back in November, after President-elect Donald Trump announced the formation of DOGE, Ernst unveiled a plan aimed at rooting out $2 trillion in “government waste.”
During the 2024 campaign cycle, Musk indicated that he believed DOGE could reduce government spending by about $2 trillion, but he has since acknowledged that might not be a realistic target.
