The Deep State bureaucrats are getting bolder by the day.
Senator Joni Ernst just exposed their latest scheme.
And Joni Ernst just caught these HUD bureaucrats red-handed in a scheme that will make your blood boil.
Ernst uncovers shocking taxpayer abuse at Housing and Urban Development
Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) is known as a watchdog who keeps government bureaucrats on their toes.
Now she’s uncovered a scandal at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that shows just how far government employees will go to rip off hardworking Americans.
In a scathing letter sent Monday to HUD Secretary Scott Turner, Ernst revealed multiple cases of federal employees abusing a program called “taxpayer-funded union time” (TFUT) that allows government workers to perform union activities while still collecting their full taxpayer-funded salaries.
“From launching real estate careers to sitting in jail cells, HUD bureaucrats have been quite busy while claiming to be on taxpayer-funded union time,” Ernst said. “Meanwhile, they have put the important work of serving the American people on the back burner.”
Florida real estate agent pocketed Washington D.C. salary
One particularly outrageous case involved a HUD employee who was supposed to be working in Washington, D.C., but was actually living in Florida and running a real estate business – all while collecting his government paycheck.
The bureaucrat was even collecting “locality pay” – the higher salary adjustment given to federal employees in the expensive D.C. area – while actually living in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.
Ernst’s investigation uncovered legal documents supporting this. She wrote in her letter, “Corroborating the allegations that this individual lives in Florida instead of Washington, D.C. are a series of legal documents he signed in which he claims his residence to be in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.”
These documents include “two housing discrimination complaints, one signed in 2019 and the other 2020 (filed with the Florida Commission on Human Relations), as well as annual Limited Liability Company (LLC) disclosures signed each year between 2017 and the present, in which the LLC’s principal place of business is listed as Florida.”
Ernst wasn’t buying any excuses about this being a part-time gig.
“Perhaps this purported HUD employee conducts the entirety of his real estate business outside of the hours for which he draws a federal paycheck,” Ernst wrote sarcastically. “Somehow, I doubt it.”
Vacation and jail time on the taxpayer dime
The Florida real estate scammer wasn’t the only bureaucrat taking advantage of taxpayers.
According to a whistleblower who contacted Ernst’s office, another HUD employee used taxpayer-funded union time to attend a training conference in Puerto Rico – and then added an extra week of vacation in the tropical paradise.
But the most shocking case might be the HUD employee who continued receiving his taxpayer-funded salary while serving jail time for multiple DUI offenses.
This employee was only fired after allegedly embezzling $20,000 from the American Federation of Government Employees.
Massive waste of taxpayer dollars
The abuse at HUD is just the tip of the iceberg in a government-wide scandal.
According to data from the Office of Personnel Management cited by Ernst, federal employees spent 2.6 million hours – the equivalent of nearly 300 years – on union activities in fiscal year 2019 alone.
This cost American taxpayers at least $135 million.
After the letter was made public, Ernst told the Daily Caller News Foundation that it was time for HUD to get “its house in order.”
“I look forward to Secretary Turner getting the house in order at HUD and ensuring that federal employees serve the American people and not themselves,” Ernst said.
Trump administration targeting waste and corruption
Ernst’s investigation comes as the Trump administration has been working to root out waste, fraud, and abuse throughout the federal government.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner, who was appointed by President Trump earlier this year, now faces pressure to crack down on these abuses and implement stronger oversight.
The Trump administration has been vocal about reducing the size of the federal bureaucracy and ensuring government employees are accountable to the American people.
So far, HUD has not responded to requests for comment on Ernst’s letter.
Ernst’s office also received information from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) about their use of taxpayer-funded union time for fiscal years 2023 and 2024, suggesting that her investigation may expand to other federal agencies.
As this story develops, one thing is clear: bureaucrats living the high life on the taxpayer dime are finally being exposed.
