Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican working with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy-driven Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has taken on a brand new case of alleged authorities waste.
A whistleblower just lately claimed {that a} Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) worker has been dwelling in Florida for years whereas accumulating a taxpayer-funded wage as if he have been working full-time at HUD’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.
The whistleblower alleges that this “Florida Man” has been “retiring-in-place,” accumulating full pay and advantages, together with 100% taxpayer-funded union time (TFUT), whereas moonlighting as an actual property skilled. Ernst’s crew claimed that the person has resided in Port Saint Lucie, Florida, since no less than 2020.
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“Florida man moonlighting as a ‘actual property skilled’ whereas allegedly slacking at his day job is simply one of many bureaucrats that I’m highlighting this Christmas season,” Ernst informed Daily Mail.
“It feels like a comedic headline, however taxpayers are the butt of the joke as federal workers proceed to get caught doing every little thing however their work.”
“Americans will likely be getting the final chuckle although. Come subsequent yr, I will likely be giving bureaucrats a alternative – do your job or be fired,” she added.
House Speaker backs Ernst’s efforts to fight authorities inefficiency
Earlier this yr, she additionally uncovered one other HUD worker, Tracy Vargas, who reportedly continued to obtain pay whereas serving a four-day jail sentence for a DUI in 2020. The whistleblower, in that case, revealed that Vargas didn’t submit depart requests and claimed she was engaged in union actions coated underneath TFUT throughout her incarceration.
Ernst has been vocal about her mission to fight authorities waste, particularly within the wake of federal telework insurance policies launched through the COVID-19 pandemic. A current Ernst-backed initiative, the REMOTE Act, goals to observe federal employees’ pc exercise, observe telework impacts, and push for a return to in-person work.
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Speaker Mike Johnson echoed Ernst’s sentiments: “Government is simply too large, it does too many issues, and it does virtually nothing nicely,” throughout a December assembly with DOGE leaders EMusk and Ramaswamy.