Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) is calling for a formal investigation into what is potentially thousands of federal employees receiving millions of dollars in improper COVID-19 relief payments.
In a letter to Michael Horowitz, the inspector general leading the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, Ernst noted that investigations by the Committee had already identified “tens of thousands of federal employees who applied for and received small business loans for which they were not eligible.”
She added, “There is ample evidence that thousands of federal employees working for various federal agencies may have fraudulently applied for and received payments from these programs.”
She asked Horowitz to look into the situation.
These were among the examples that Ernst cited:
- Nearly 2,000 federal employees at the Department of Homeland Security may have been paid more than $2 million in fraudulent COVID-19 unemployment benefits
- Five IRS employees were charged with COVID relief fraud
- Four USPS employees were charged with applying for fraudulent unemployment insurance benefits through the state of Illinois
- An Amtrak employee was indicted for COVID relief fraud
- Two USPS employees agreed to repay Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits when they were employed by the United States Postal Service
Ernst wrote in her letter:
It is appalling for anyone fortunate enough to have the reliability of a government paycheck to take advantage of financial assistance intended to provide a lifeline to Americans who lost their jobs or were unable to work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These misbehaved bureaucrats have also tarnished the reputation of the other dedicated civil servants, many of whom worked long hours in essential jobs during the pandemic.
In addition to having the funds recovered, she wants any federal employees who may be guilty of improperly taking the relief funds to be fired.
The text of the letter is included below.
Senator Joni Ernst Letter Re: Federal Employees Defrauding COVID Relief Programs
January 27, 2023
The Honorable Michael E. Horowitz
Chair
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
441 G Street, NW
Suite 1517
Washington, D.C. 20548
Dear Inspector General Horowitz,
January 27, 2023
I would like to thank you and all of the members and staff of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) for your continued vigilance on behalf of taxpayers monitoring pandemic-related programs to detect and combat waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement.
As the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I am particularly interested in your oversight of programs administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA), such as the ongoing project by PRAC’s Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence (PACE) which has already identified tens of thousands of federal employees who applied for and received small business loans for which they were not eligible.
I would encourage you to conduct a similar review to determine how many unscrupulous bureaucrats wrongfully took advantage of the federal pandemic unemployment and lost wages assistance programs. There is ample evidence that thousands of federal employees working for various federal agencies may have fraudulently applied for and received payments from these programs.
Nearly 2,000 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees or fraudsters may have been paid more than $2 million in fraudulent COVID-19 unemployment benefits, according to a review by the Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), for example.
The OIG determined 935 of the DHS employees signed up and approved to receive Lost Wages Assistance were ineligible and another 874 were potentially ineligible for the program. In fact, 336 of the DHS employees claiming to be unemployed received overtime pay. The ineligible recipients were found to be employed by the Secret Service, FEMA, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and other DHS component agencies. While some of these fraudulent claims are likely the result of identity theft, some DHS employees used the department’s own computer network to file for unemployment benefits!
They weren’t alone in this scheme to rip off taxpayers.
Employees of other federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, Amtrak, and the U.S. Postal Service have also been caught fraudulently collecting unemployment payments, despite being on the federal payroll.
It is appalling for anyone fortunate enough to have the reliability of a government paycheck to take advantage of financial assistance intended to provide a lifeline to Americans who lost their jobs or were unable to work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These misbehaved bureaucrats have also tarnished the reputation of the other dedicated civil servants, many of whom worked long hours in essential jobs during the pandemic.
I look forward to reviewing PACE’s findings regarding the number of federal employees who wrongfully received SBA loans when the project is completed and once again encourage you to conduct a similar review to identify how many federal employees applied for and received pandemic unemployment and lost wages assistance for which they were not eligible.
I hope this money can be recovered, and, to deter those who might ever think of trying to do this again in the future, those who abused the public trust will have their federal employment terminated.
If you would like to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact me or Roland Foster (Roland_Foster@ernst.senate.gov) of my staff at (202) 224-3254.
Sincerely,
Joni K. Ernst
United States Senator
