The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a US law that allows the public to request access to records from federal agencies.
Data from their website reveals that while the federal government has spent billions of dollars on new office furniture since 2020, most government officials work from home.
Foia shows $4.6 billion spent on furniture during the pandemic timeline.
This is the list of the biggest wasteful furniture spending of federal agencies since 2020.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spent $237,960 on a solar-powered picnic table.
The State Department spent $120,000 on the brand new Ethan Allen Leather Reclinings for the Embassy in Islamabad.
The Securities and Exchange Commission spent $26 million on furniture for the meeting room and held a meeting on Zoom.
DARPA, the Bureau of Advanced Defense Research Projects, spent $250,000 on conference rooms and expensive Herman Miller furniture.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) purchased $284,000 at Herman Miller Furniture for its headquarters conference center.
The Pension Benefits Guarantee Corporation has 1,000 employees. FOIA data shows that the agency has purchased $14.4 million worth of new furniture for its employees. That’s about $14,400 per employee.
According to the FOIA, the Environmental Protection Agency has surpassed 300,000 square feet in some of its office space, but has increased its office furniture by $6.5 million and moved it to smaller offices.
“Taxpayers are turning the bill over for government employees to work from home, but they continue to endure the purchase of furniture,” said David Williams of the Taxpayer Protection Alliance.
Other agents have included waiting costs for new office furniture since 2020.
Transportation only used 9% of the office space, but spent $55 million on furniture.
Agriculture spent just 9% of its office space and $57 million on furniture.
Veterans’ Issues spent $428 million on new furniture, spending just 16% of the office space.
The defense spent 23% of that space and spent $1.2 billion on furniture. Was it 100% of the time, did it cost $4.8 billion?
