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GSA spending spree prompts greater scrutiny of other agencies

Read the full story here. GovExec.com

“As the General Services Administration swiftly becomes the face of wasteful government spending, other federal agencies soon will have to take a closer look at their own checkbooks. The nonpartisan government accountability watchdog group Cause of Action filed Freedom of Information Act requests Wednesday to 28 federal agencies and their inspectors general in an effort to uncover more instances of unchecked federal spending between January 2009 and the present, The Hillreported. The requests ask for a reply within 20 business days, and seek to uncover uses of taxpayer dollars similar to the $6,325 the General Services Administration spent on coins commemorating a regional branch’s lavish 2010 Las Vegas conference. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is planning an April 19 hearing to discuss the conference spending. The Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Education and State departments are some of the agencies for which Cause of Action is seeking spending records. “Our economy is facing a recession, our government can’t pass a budget, and federal agencies are choosing to spend taxpayer dollars on trinkets for their employees or third parties,” Cause of Action Executive Director Dan Epstein told The Hill. “This is yet another example of frivolous and wasteful government spending that deserves to be exposed.””

Read the full story here. The Hill

“Cause of Action, a government accountability watchdog group, has filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to 28 federal agencies seeking any evidence that they used taxpayer dollars to buy commemorative awards.

The group’s request followed this week’s report from the General Services Administration’s Inspector General, which found that GSA spent more than $800,000 on a lavish conference in Las Vegas. That report prompted GSA Administrator Martha Johnson to resign.

Cause of Action’s FOIA request notes that GSA spent $6,325 on commemorative coins that were not permissible awards to conference attendees, and asks each of the 28 agencies to detail if they too spent money on these types of awards. “Our economy is facing a recession, our government can’t pass a budget, and federal agencies http://goexback.com/ how to get your ex backare choosing to spend taxpayer dollars on trinkets for their employees or third parties,” Cause of Action Executive Director Dan Epstein said. “Instead of preserving our tax dollars for necessary spending, these agencies have traded coin for coins that hold no value. This is yet another example of frivolous and wasteful government spending that deserves to be exposed.”