Report by Homeland Security IG details unjustified spending, shortchanging of lower-level employees

What government agency awards "lifetime achievement" awards when the agency is only two years old, in the middle of a hotel celebration for which the bill includes $81,000 for plaques and $500 for cheese displays?

If you guessed the Transportation Security Agency, give yourself a reward. Then again, considering the agency's history of lavish, unjustified spending, perhaps it wasn't that hard of a question.

The Associated Press has obtained an internal report written by the Homeland Security Department Inspector General's office. The subject of the report was a TSA awards ceremony at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington (DC), one of the nation's capital's most expensive hotels. At the activity, some 543 TSA employees and 30 organizations received awards, including one "lifetime achievement" award given to an employee. Keep in mind, the TSA itself is only two years old.

The entire activity cost over $461,745, including some $200,000 spent on travel and lodging for the attendees. The investigation also found that the TSA gave its senior executives bonus checks of, on average, $16,000. That is more than any other federal government agency has given to other employees. In addition, the IG's office found that the TSA failed to document adequate justification for the bonuses in more than a third of the 88 cases that it audited.

The report also said that the agency had shortchanged many low-level employees, a far lower percentage of which received bonuses. "A substantial inequity exists in TSA's performance recognition program between executive and non-executive employees," the report said.

The response from TSA spokesperson Amy von Walter? The agency believes the bonuses and the party were justified, "given the hours and productivity of the work force during this critical period." This after a recent report found that undercover agents were able to bring explosives, firearms and other weapons through security checkpoints and into airliners, right under the noses of the screeners the TSA is supposed to train. The report states the TSA chose the Hyatt because it was the only hotel available on the date of the second anniversary of the agency, November 19, 2003, and it was allegedly the only one that could accommodate 1200 people, half of them honorees, the other half guests.

In a rare show of bipartisan displeasure, members of Congress and the Senate are both criticizing the agency. Even the Republicans are complaining that the agency has grown much larger than they intended, though politicians well know that any new bureaucracy will grow uncontrollably if not responsibly overseen.

On top of everything else, DHS IG Clark Kent Ervin is also investigating reports the agency's recruiters have been operating out of lush resort hotels equipped with golf courses, pools and spas, while the employees they seek are offered little more than minimum wage pay.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said he had not seen the full report but it appears it indicates "a colossal waste of money." He added "There's something terribly wrong with that agency. Of all the agencies, that's the one that's supposed to be working full-time against terrorist attacks."

The DHS IG report found that the TSA sought competitive bids for party planning services, and chose the lowest bidder, but it also found the "costs of the ceremony and reception were higher than necessary." The company chosen to provide the services, MarCom Group Inc. of Fairfax (VA), billed $85,552 for its work, and was paid an additional $81,767 for plaques, $5,196 for photographic services, $1,486 for three balloon arches and $1,509 for signs.

The IG also stated the TSA issued bonuses that were more generous than other federal agencies. On average, government agencies pay bonuses to just under half of its executive employees. The TSA paid bonuses to over three-quarters of their executives in 2003. On top of that, a review of 88 employee files found that over a third of them "had no individual recommendation and justification for the performance award." The report added that "The legitimacy of such large awards is called into question by the lack of an appropriate selection process and the reliance on boilerplate justifications that could be applicable to anyone."

On the other hand, less than 3% of non-executive employees received bonuses in 2003. The TSA responded with a statement that executives who received bonuses did not receive increases in pay and were not elegible for a presidential awards program that could have netted them as much as 35% of their base pay.

Not surprisingly, the agency did state that more could be done to make sure lower-level employees are rewarded in an equitable manner as compared to top executives.

FMI: www.tsa.gov, www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/editorial/editorial_0326.xml