Posts tagged Office of the Inspector General
IRS workers only had to show up to work once a week in person, before Trump took over
April 18, 2025 // Last December, a bombshell report from Ernst’s office found that a measly 6% of the federal workforce showed up “in-person on a full-time basis.” Almost one-third of federal workers were remote on a full-time basis at the time, marking a steep decline from the pre-pandemic era in which only 3% teleworked daily, according to the report. Ernst has clashed with the IRS repeatedly, including over watchdog findings last July that current and former workers owed $46 million to Uncle Sam in unpaid taxes. “This adds insult to injury to the fact that the agency is filled with tax cheats,” the Hawkeye State senator added, referring to the collective bargaining deal. “I have a laundry list of reforms to fix America’s least favorite government agency.”
Senate Recesses without Vote on Controversial NLRB Nominee
October 1, 2024 // The U.S. Senate left Washington, DC, on September 27 without having voted on the controversial nomination of Lauren McFerran to serve another term as Chair of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Employment Policy Network has posted several times on McFerran’s inappropriate nomination and tenure leading the NLRB, including the lack of a confirmation hearing on her nomination and a Wall Street Journal op-ed condemning McFerran’s legacy. McFerran’s tenure on the Board has included severe criticisms from federal courts, its own Office of the Inspector General, and Congress. Many of the most egregious condemnations are listed below.
Opinion: Biden rule threatens to throw independent contracting into disarray
March 6, 2024 // For example, the U.S. Postal Service uses 7,900 contracted delivery services to reach about 3 million of its delivery points. The plainclothes carrier who delivers mail via her personal vehicle to my home in Shenandoah, Va., is presumably one of these contract drivers. Under the Biden administration’s new rule, she and potentially thousands of individuals like her would almost certainly be considered employees. That is because the work these contractors perform is “integral” to the Postal Service; the Postal Service exercises a high degree of direct and indirect control over these individuals by mandating where and when the work must be done, and the delivery contractors are not exercising significant “skill” or “initiative.”
SBA OFFICIALS PLEAD IGNORANCE OF UNION RELATED COVID RELIEF FRAUD
October 19, 2022 // SBA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report on Sept. 26, the stated objective of which was to “determine whether PPP loans to nonprofit organizations were made in accordance with eligibility requirements.” Since unions were categorically excluded from the program as 501(c)(5) nonprofits, and since the Freedom Foundation filed a formal complaint with the SBA OIG back in February based on its findings, the report would have been an excellent opportunity to address the issue. Unfortunately, the OIG report only analyzed more traditional 501(c)(3) nonprofits that may have been too large to qualify for PPP funds, leaving unions out of the analysis
Illinois continues to lag national unemployment rate
August 23, 2022 // "The pandemic and the financial impact from the pandemic, compounded with unemployment, has made people more vulnerable," Ford said. "In the communities that have been traumatized by these issues, you will see more violence." State Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Teutopolis, blamed the state's handling of its unemployment fund for its failure to get people back to work. "For nearly two years, people could make more and stay home," Niemerg told The Center Square. "What did they think would happen?" Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub, State Rep. LaShawn Ford