COLEMAN FINDS ABUSE OF FEDERAL PREMIUM CLASS TRAVEL
In an effort to root out wasteful government spending, Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), and Subcommittee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) initiated an investigation into the abuse of premium-class first-and-business class air travel throughout the federal government. In response to the Subcommittee request, Government Accountability Office (GAO) today issued at report revealing that between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2006, the federal government spent more than $230 million on 53,000 premium-class airline tickets, of which $146 million or 67 percent was unauthorized or unjustified. GAO also found that business-class travel, which comprises 96 percent of the government's premium-class travel, is largely unmonitored. While OMB has a reporting system for first-class travel, GAO found that most agencies do not scrutinize their employees' use of business-class travel. To address these concerns, Senator Coleman has introduced legislation to require OMB's annual report be expanded to include business-class travel and report all premium travel to Congress.
"While government air travel typically would not be viewed as a major source of government waste, we have found that a lack of oversight is costing taxpayers $146 million each year," said Coleman. "The abuse of business-class travel is particularly troubling, as it usually costs more than five times the price of coach class travel. No one disputes the fact that government officials need to travel, as not all work can be done behind a desk. Nor should all premium-class travel be eliminated. But the rules are there for a reason and the federal government should enforce them. We simply need the necessary oversight mechanisms in place to ensure that taxpayers' dollars are spent properly. That is why I have introduced legislation to require OMB to expand its travel report to include business-class travel and to provide that report to Congress."
In 2003, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the Department of Defense's improper use of first- and business-class airline travel. At that hearing, the Subcommittee revealed that, in two fiscal years, DOD spent $124 million on 68,000 business and first-class airline tickets and that roughly 72 percent of this travel was not properly justified or not properly authorized. That amounted to about $45 million per year in the abuse of premium-class travel. As a direct result of the Subcommittee's hearing, DOD made significant changes to its travel policies, decreasing its premium class usage from about $62 million per year to just over $23 million. GAO has calculated a savings of roughly $82 million per year in premium class travel usage from DOD's improvements.
"DOD is the perfect example of how a change in policy and more effective oversight has reigned in unauthorized and unjustified usage of premium-class travel. I applaud their efforts, and we should translate that success to the rest of the federal government. That means bringing greater transparency and accountability to the process government-wide. My legislation will help to protect taxpayers' dollars by shining additional sunlight on premium travel and giving Congress the necessary information to oversee government travel effectively," said Coleman.
Examples of travel abuse:
Twenty-one employees from the United States Trade Representative flew premium class to Hong Kong at a cost of $99,000. None of the employees were authorized to use premium class. The cost of coach class tickets to Hong Kong would have been $31,000 a cost difference of $68,000.
Over a six-month period, thirty-two State Department agents flew from DC to Liberia in premium class. Five of those travelers had not authorization for premium class; three had duplicate tickets and no evidence that the duplicates were refunded; 17 were not properly justified, as their trips did not meet the 14-hour rule. These flights cost $293,000 and comparable coach-class tickets would have cost $124,000 - a difference of $169,000.
Nine employees from the Department of Justice flew premium class to Frankfurt, Germany at a cost of $35,000. The employees sought to justify the use of premium class by asserting that the flight time was over 14 hours in length. The flights actually lasted less than 14 hours. If the employees had flown coach class the cost to the government would have been $4,000, a cost difference of $31,000.
An SES employee from the Department of Agriculture flew premium class from Washington, D.C. to Zurich, Switzerland at a cost of $7,500. His travel authorization was signed by a subordinate and cited "exceptional circumstances" as the justification. Agency policy specifically prohibits the use of exceptional circumstances to justify flights to Western Europe. A coach class ticket would have cost $900, a difference of $6,600.