Justice Denied: Waste & Mismanagement at the Department of Justice, a new oversight report released by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), details over $10 billion in mismanaged, inefficient, duplicative, wasteful, and questionable spending at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
To see the report's highlights, click here. The report is nearly 90 pages, and identifies over $10 billion in mismanaged, inefficient, duplicative, wasteful, and questionable spending at the DOJ.
DOJ Spends $312 on Conferences The Department of Justice (DOJ) spent at least $312 million over seven years on conference attendance and sponsorship. In 2006, the most recent year for which figures are available, the agency sent 26,000 employees (one fourth of its total workforce) to conferences and spent $46 million in the process. In 2006, DOJ sent 26,164 employees (one quarter of all its employees) to 2,199 conferences at a cost to taxpayers of over $46 million. These events included:
Outrageous DOJ Earmarks
The Department of Justice appropriations for FY 2006 included an estimated 1,409 earmarks valued at more than $869 million, according to the Office of the Inspector General. There were 1,505 items in the earmark disclosure list for DOJ with a combined dollar value of $529.7 million in 2008.
DOJ Grant Programs’ Silly Spending
The federal “Weed and Seed” program provides funding to local “Weed and Seed Communities” for the purpose of reducing crime and “improving the neighborhood.” In FY 2008, the program received $32 million and Congress has appropriated more than $252 million for it over the past five years. Some funded activities featured below may or may not have advanced the mission of DOJ:
While many of these events may have been fun or even educational recreational events for children, adolescents and teenagers, it is difficult to demonstrate how these differ from activities funded by other federal grants or how they may have actually had a positive impact on reducing crime in an area. To read the full report, click here.
Senator Coburn sent a letter to the GAO asking them to look into DOJ’s taxpayer-funded recreational activities such as white water rafting, field trips, summer camp, talent shows, dance and hip-hop classes, and even the construction of a skateboard park.