Ernst Demands Accountability for Out of Office Biden Bureaucrats
WASHINGTON – With wars in Europe and the Middle East, and the Pacific teetering on the brink, America’s defense chief went AWOL for four days this past month. Meanwhile, the Commander-in-Chief and de facto head of the Pentagon were both out of the office, on tropical islands far away from Washington. President Biden was not aware his Secretary of Defense was away from the job until he was informed days later during his weeklong Caribbean vacation, where he was relaxing at a private beachfront villa.
To stand up for taxpayers who show up to work and pay bureaucrats’ salaries, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is calling on the White House Office of Management and Budget to start posting the schedules of the heads of every agency and department, so taxpayers know who is showing up to work and who isn’t.
She also pointed out that Biden’s administrator of the General Services Administration, who is supposed to manageover 8,300 government buildings, spent most of the year following the agency’s “full re-entry” to the office not in Washington, but in Missouri. Even more noteworthy, President Biden himself is setting this example for how Washington “works from home.” The president was out of the Oval Office last year more than any other modern American president, spending nearly 40 percent of his time away from the nation’s capital.
“Unlike most Americans, Biden bureaucrats follow the president’s example of doing business: when, where, how, and if they want to,” said Senator Ernst. “With wars raging and Americans hurting, this administration needs to be all hands on deck. Without a doubt, our national security shouldn’t be managed by a beachside deputy. The out of office madness must end – that’s why I’m demanding that the White House be transparent about who is disrespecting taxpayers on their dime and who is not.”
Read the letter here.
Background:
In August, Ernst demanded investigations into 24 federal departments and agencies to determine the impact of telework on the delivery and response times of services. Following her advocacy, the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Inspector General responded to her request and is currently considering an audit to examine whether GSA has appropriately evaluated its physical space needs and utilization. A few months later, the GSA announced it would downsize 3.5 million square feet of federal buildings, saving taxpayers over $1 billion.
Ernst also increased accountability for federal telework abuse by passing an amendment to hold the Biden administration accountable for the cost to taxpayers and the impact on services from continued remote work by Washington bureaucrats.
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