 Review shows NASA employees bought seemingly personal items, The Associated Press, May 4, 2008.
NASA employees have used government credit cards to buy items such as iPods, video games and jewelry, and they've sidestepped competitive bidding rules designed to save taxpayers money on large purchases, a newspaper reported Sunday.
The Houston Chronicle analyzed 451,000 charges, totaling more than $265 million, made on NASA purchase cards between January 2004 and July 2007. The newspaper also reviewed audits, internal reports and other documents related to card use.
The NASA records provided to the Chronicle do not explain justifications for the purchases, or even the specific items bought. Most transactions were made to vendors that appear to sell legitimate business items. … "That should send up a red flag," said Scott Amey, general counsel of the Project on Government Oversight, a government watchdog organization. "You have to ask: Is somebody trying to get around competitive requirements?"
NASA employees big spenders on government credit, The Houston Chronicle, By Chase Davis, May 3, 2008.
NASA employees have used government credit cards to ring up iPods, video games and even clothes from the agency's own gift shop, while at other times using the cards in ways that sidestep competitive bidding rules, federal documents and a Chronicle review of agency records show.
The review comes at a time when Congress is considering tightening purchase card regulations across government, after a federal report last month that found widespread abuse in government credit card programs, including charges that did not follow policies to prevent waste and fraud.
Internal investigations have for years uncovered similar problems within NASA, which has long been criticized for poor financial management, even as the agency has pleaded with Congress for billions of dollars to fuel new manned missions into space. …
"That should send up a red flag," said Scott Amey, general counsel of the Project on Government Oversight, a government watchdog organization. "You have to ask: Is somebody trying to get around competitive requirements?" …
 Federal Credit Cards Accountability - Feds Gone Wild, Imperial Valley News, April 27, 2008
Recent media reports regarding the abuse of government credit cards, prompted by the release of a Senate report on Monday, April 7, shines a fresh light on a problem.
Over the years, purchase card holders have bought Atlanta Braves tickets, Victoria 's Secret merchandise, jewelry, cell phones, tires, escort services, and in one instance, we found an inventive federal employee who purchased breast enhancement surgery for his girlfriend.
The following are some of Project on Government Oversight's (POGO) previous recommendations for addressing purchase card abuses.
* Congress should require additional guidance to improve the management of the government’s purchase card program.
* The government should consistently implement purchase card program internal controls.
* Purchase cards should only be issued to individuals who have a documented need to acquire items for the government.
* Purchase card accounts should be conditional on cardholders receiving training on the program’s key internal controls, which should reduce fraudulent and abusive purchases.
* No cardholder should be their own authorizing official.
* Agencies should confirm that approving officials review cardholder support and certify monthly statements.
OMB Gets Tough on Misuse of Government Credit Cards, Washington Post, By Stephen Barr April 10, 2008.
A crackdown on the misuse of government credit cards is underway.
The Office of Management and Budget said yesterday that it would welcome Congress's help in disciplining federal employees who misuse their cards, pointing to a Senate bill that would authorize agencies to fire employees for egregious abuse of government credit cards. Employees suspected of fraud would have their cases referred to federal prosecutors.
"The vast majority of civilian employees, government employees, use the cards responsibly. At the same time, I would say there is abuse, and the goal is zero, and we need to make it zero," said Clay Johnson III, deputy director for federal management issues at the OMB.
An investigative report released by senators Tuesday showed that government employees used their credit cards in 2005 and 2006 to buy cameras, laptop computers, iPods, high-end suits, lingerie, and steak and booze dinners.
The inquiry by the Government Accountability Office was not the first to discover abuse in federal credit card and travel programs. Previous reports by the GAO and inspectors general have documented federal employees using their government cards to buy baseball tickets, jewelry, cellphones, escort services and, in one instance, breast enhancement surgery for a girlfriend.
"Here We Go Again," was the headline yesterday on a news release from the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit group that investigates corruption in government. It noted that the group uncovered similar problems in 2002. …
Inside the Beltway, Washington Times, By John McCaslin, April 10, 2008.
Spending spree
"Here we go again," reacts the Project on Government Oversight to the new Senate report on fraudulent use of government-issued credit cards by federal employees, which POGO first investigated in 2002.
"Over the years, purchase card holders have bought Atlanta Braves tickets, Victoria's Secret merchandise, jewelry, cell phones, tires, escort services, and in one instance we found an inventive federal employee who purchased breast enhancement surgery for his girlfriend." …
POGO Alert - Here We Go Again: No Accountability For Federal Credit Cards; Pushes Limits To New Highs (Or Lows), April 9, 2008.
GAO Report - Governmentwide Purchase Cards; Actions Needed to Strengthen Internal Controls to Reduce Fraudulent, Improper, and Abusive Practices, March 2008. GAO-08-333.
Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, "Emergency Response To Hurricane Katrina: Use Of The Government Purchase Card," May 2007.
POGO Investigative Report - Federal Contracting: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina, August 28, 2006.
In August 2005, a tropical storm gathered strength and inched its way toward the United States. After reaching a nearly unprecedented level of strength, the now-Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, destroying houses, businesses, and critical infrastructure. In some cases, relief efforts started before Katrina hit landfall. The federal government has so far appropriated approximately $120 billion to respond to the relief, recovery, and reconstruction needs of the hurricane victims. POGO has identified several systemic failures in, and evaporating oversight controls of, the federal contracting process and recommends that government contracting laws and regulations need to be strengthened because of: 1. Poor Planning; 2. Inadequate Competition; 3. Lack of Accountability; and 4. Minimal Transparency.
Purchase Cards: Control Weaknesses Leave DHS Highly Vulnerable to Fraudulent, Improper, and Abusive Activity (GAO-06-1117). September 28, 2006.
Homeland Security Spent Your Money On What? ABC NEWS, July 20, 2006, by John Cochran.
A lot of people enjoy a beer at the end of a hard day, but that drink should not come at the taxpayer's expense, especially when the money was meant to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. Congressional investigators have uncovered many of what they called questionable purchases with government-issued credit cards. That includes a Coast Guard official who used a government purchase card to buy a beer brewing kit. … The purchase of the beer brewing kit was no surprise to Scott Amey, general counsel of the Project on Government Oversight, a citizen watchdog group. "You have all kinds of problems with waste, fraud and abuses when it comes to purchase cards," he said. He noted that for more than 60 percent of the purchases, there was no documentation that the goods or services were ever received.
Government Workers Abused Smart Pay, Marketplace Public Radio, July 19, 2006, By Scott Tong.
It wasn't just everyday citizens taking advantage of disaster relief chaos in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Now auditors report tales of wasteful spending by Homeland Security workers. Scott Tong reports: ... “I'd love to say that I'm shocked”, Scott Amey is with the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight. He says the problem has cropped up throughout government. AMEY: Purchase card holders have bought Atlanta Braves tickets, Victoria's Secret merchandise, jewelry, cell phones, tires, escort services, and in one instance we've even seen someone purchase breast enhancement surgery.
POGO Alert - GAO Report Echoes POGO’s Concerns with the DHS Katrina Purchase Card Program, July 19, 2006.
POGO Alert - White House Backs Down on $250K Government Purchase Card Limit, October 3, 2005.
POGO's Letter to Senator Collins (R-ME), Chair, Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, detailing government contracting concerns and recommendations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, September 16, 2005.
POGO Alert - Katrina Relief Bill: Contractor Pigs at the Trough,
September 8, 2005
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POGO Alert - Sandia Employee Charges Robotic Dog, iPods, and Computers to Federal Government, Then Resells, July 28, 2005.
POGO Alert - Whistleblowers at Los Alamos Fired in Retaliation. Leaders at Los Alamos National Laboratory have fired two investigators who uncovered widespread corruption at the facility. November 22, 2002.
POGO Letter to the House Government Reform Committee urging them to oppose Share-in-Savings and the Digital Tech Corps Act, October 11, 2002.
More government purchase card fraud surfaces. $13,250 spent by Navy at Nevada brothels according to a new General Accounting Office report. Still, Representative Tom Davis pushes legislation to increase purchase card dollar limits and to institute other "acquisition reforms" allowing contractors in the taxpayer's cookie jar. October 8, 2002.
ABC's John Stossel says "Give Me a Break" to astronomical credit card bills.
POGO Alert - Army Purchase Card Used for Escort Service, July 17, 2002.
"In recent weeks a federal employee who used his government purchase card to buy a breast enlargement for his girlfriend has given new meaning to the expression, 'on the government teat.'" Federal Times op-ed on contractor-giveaway legislation, the Services Acquisition Reform Act (SARA), by Danielle Brian, Executive Director, April 8, 2002.
Testimony of POGO's Danielle Brian, Executive Director, before the House Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management, and Intergovernmental Affairs, March 13, 2002.
POGO Investigative Report - Pick Pocketing the Taxpayer: The Insidious Effects of Acquisition Reform. In the 1990s, corporate lobbyists mounted an offensive against what they saw as an overbearing government system of buying goods and services. Most of the reforms they sought, however, unraveled useful taxpayer protections created during the infamous defense contractor scandals of the 1980s. Under the rubric of streamlining government and increasing competition, taxpayer protections were rolled back using a platform of reforms known as "Acquisition Reform."Revised, March 11, 2002.
Written Testimony of POGO's Danielle Brian, before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy Legislative Hearing on H.R. 3832, The Services Acquisition Reform Act of 2002 (SARA), March 7, 2002.
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