{"id":14506,"date":"2024-01-24T01:46:25","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T01:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/24\/ernst-demands-omb-audit-every-biden-admin-heads-schedule-after-secretary-austins-hospitalization\/"},"modified":"2024-01-24T01:46:25","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T01:46:25","slug":"ernst-demands-omb-audit-every-biden-admin-heads-schedule-after-secretary-austins-hospitalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/24\/ernst-demands-omb-audit-every-biden-admin-heads-schedule-after-secretary-austins-hospitalization\/","title":{"rendered":"Ernst demands OMB audit every Biden admin head\u2019s schedule after Secretary Austin\u2019s hospitalization"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FIRST ON FOX: <\/strong>Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is demanding the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) audit and publish every single Biden administration agency head\u2019s schedule after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin flew under the radar for several days while he was hospitalized last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018I was shocked \u2013 as surely you were too \u2013 to learn Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spent much of the past month recovering from surgery, which he failed to disclose even to the Deputy Secretary or Commander-in-Chief,\u2019 Ernst wrote in a letter sent to the OMB on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After an elective surgical procedure, Austin returned to work in a virtual capacity on Jan. 5 while still hospitalized, even authorizing airstrikes on Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthis. He was released last Monday. Despite being admitted to Walter Reed on Jan.1, the Pentagon didn\u2019t inform the public, press or Congress until Jan. 5.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Officials also acknowledged that the White House had not been informed about Austin\u2019s hospitalization until Jan. 4.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018If true, this begs the question, is Secretary Austin working from home so frequently that he can disappear into the hospital for an entire week to undergo invasive surgery, and folks simply just think he\u2019s working from home again? When department secretaries do work from home, are they as nonresponsive as someone under general anesthesia?\u2019 Ernst probed.<\/p>\n

Ernst argued that during Austin\u2019s hospitalization, Biden vacationed in St. Croix and General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Robin Carnahan worked mainly from Missouri, defying the agency\u2019s return-to-office plan with an 11% office space utilization rate.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government state that \u2018without a strong tone at the top to support an internal control system\u2026 results\u2026 may not be\u2026 acted upon to remediate deficiencies.\u2019 This principle of risk mitigation and fraud prevention applies perfectly to remote work and telework abuse and fraud,\u2019 Ernst wrote.<\/p>\n

\u2018I am left drawing the unavoidable conclusion that the \u2018tone at the top\u2019 across the Biden administration has undercut your efforts. With the new year comes new year\u2019s resolutions. I would encourage yours to be to redouble your efforts to get folks back in the office. That should include agency leadership as well,\u2019 she continued.<\/p>\n

Ernst expects the OMB to respond by Feb. 23 with what additional steps the agency has planned to get federal employees back in the office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Given the American people no longer trust senior leaders in the Biden administration to be where they say they are, every agency and department head should publish their schedule online,\u2019 Ernst wrote. \u2018And since even President Biden can\u2019t trust leaders to be where they say they are, you must audit those calendars, on a quarterly basis at minimum, and let us know if leaders continue to pull the wool over our eyes.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Ernst\u2019s letter comes as part of her increased effort to crack down on federal employees who are abusing telework. Last year, Ernst urged the Inspector General to launch a federal investigation into whether some government agencies are overpaying remote workers who receive a Washington, D.C., salary but live in a lower cost of living state \u2013 a problem she says was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Remote work spread rapidly as a way to keep some industries afloat during nationwide stay-at-home orders, and government agencies were no exception. However, Ernst said the government is typically inept at keeping track of its workers, leading to \u2018an avalanche\u2019 of problems that started years before the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Fox News\u2019 Louis Casiano contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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