Report Exposes Wasteful Spending at USDA Under Mike Johanns' Watch (Update with Johanns Response)
May 21, 10:52 AM CST
We covered this on Monday, but the NDP issued the following release this morning:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2008
Contact:
Eric Van Horn
(402) 434-2187
vanhorn@nebraskademocrats.org
Under Mike Johanns’ Watch
LINCOLN, Neb. – According to a Congressional Report, USDA employees benefited from 90 million tax dollars that were spent between 2000 and 2006 on lavish conferences in exotic locations.
During 2006 alone – part of the two and a half years Republican Senate candidate Mike Johanns was Secretary of Agriculture – 20,959 USDA employees attended 6,719 conferences around the globe. 94 conferences in Hawaii cost $254,755 and 59 in Orlando cost $282,656. The locations of the conferences were rarely related to the subject matter; one USDA staffer went to the Surfers Paradise Resort in Australia to study Mississippi crayfish and several staffers traveled to Hawaii from DC to learn how Congress operates.
While USDA employees were traveling around the world at taxpayer expense, then-Secretary Johanns shut down ten Farm Service Agency offices in Nebraska due to budget concerns. Combined, all ten closures saved around $100,000 – significantly less than half the cost of conferences held in Hawaii in 2006 alone.
“Taxpayers just can’t trust Mike Johanns with their money, and he clearly can’t be trusted to provide important oversight of government agencies in the Senate,” said Steve Achelpohl, Chairman of the Nebraska Democratic Party. “We need to elect leaders who value taxpayer dollars and don’t treat them as a vacation fund. Closing important offices in our state while employees travel around the world shows a lack of judgment and an inability to set the right priorities for Nebraska.”
“For Mike Johanns to portray himself as a trusted steward of public money at the USDA is patently absurd,” Achelpohl added.
The frustration over the wasteful spending extends into the Republican Party. In the course of a televised interview, Republican Senator Tom Coburn said, “We need some grown-ups in Washington to start managing some of these agencies.”
Mike Johanns managed the Department of Agriculture from January 2005 to September 2007.
Source: CBS News
UPDATE (6:00 pm): Johanns’ folks came out with the following response:
“When Mike Johanns arrived at the USDA on January 21, 2005, he set a clear guideline that all travel must be for legitimate government purposes. He demanded all employees follow the highest standards, and required USDA staff work with congressional oversight to see these standards were met legally and ethically.”
At the risk of sounding redundant, in 2006 alone – when Mike Johanns was Ag Secretary and had been for almost a year – over $250,000 were spent on trips to Hawaii and over $280,000 were spent on trips to Orlando. Over 6,700 trips were taken that year. I guess the message is that Johanns lacked the leadership and judgment to ensure that his new “guidelines” were followed.
Does this mean that Mike Johanns is incapable of changing the culture in Washington? It sure seems like it.
Here’s to hoping we can elect a Senator capable of that change: Scott Kleeb.
– by Eric Van Horn | Send this to a friend
I worked for the Corp of Engineers for a couple of years. The amount of waste in the federal government could do a lot toward’s feeding and educating our children. I am so sick of the Republicans seeming to be the one’s who stop government waste. Good job in presenting this.
— Marian May 22, 04:16 PM CST #