Thune Statement on Commerce IG Report on ‘Globetrotting Obama official’
“Reports that employees within the Department of Commerce believed that top Obama Administration appointees like Stefan Selig were entitled to bypass government travel rules and take excursions to luxury hotels on the taxpayers’ dime are disturbing.”
September 9, 2016
WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee issued the follow statement on a new report by the Department of Commerce inspector general’s office on “Improprieties in the Office of a Politically Appointed Official” and a Washington Post story, “Globetrotting Obama official traveled in luxury. Taxpayers footed the bill,” which identified the official as Stefan Selig, the former undersecretary for international trade.
“Reports that employees within the Department of Commerce believed that top Obama Administration appointees like Stefan Selig were entitled to bypass government travel rules and take excursions at luxury hotels on the taxpayers’ dime are disturbing,” said Thune. “From an outlandish Las Vegas conference where wasteful spending was a running joke to a former top aide to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy who traveled the world in first-class style while masquerading as a CIA agent, the American people have seen repeated evidence of a culture of wasteful and egregious spending that has festered under this administration. Though I appreciate the work of the Department of Commerce inspector general’s office in bringing this new abuse to light, I intend to seek answers about failed department spending controls as well as how anyone in government could believe these expenses were legitimate.”
The Senate Commerce Committee exercises primary legislative jurisdiction over the Department of Commerce. In 2013, former EPA official John Beale pled guilty to felony theft after stealing approximately $900,000 in taxpayer supported pay, bonuses, and expenses that included five-star hotels and first class airline tickets. The General Service Administration (GSA) was the subject of an investigation by its own inspector general for a 2010 Las Vegas conference that cost over $800,000 and presented an award to video that lampooned agency obligations to manage taxpayer funds.
“Reports that employees within the Department of Commerce believed that top Obama Administration appointees like Stefan Selig were entitled to bypass government travel rules and take excursions at luxury hotels on the taxpayers’ dime are disturbing,” said Thune. “From an outlandish Las Vegas conference where wasteful spending was a running joke to a former top aide to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy who traveled the world in first-class style while masquerading as a CIA agent, the American people have seen repeated evidence of a culture of wasteful and egregious spending that has festered under this administration. Though I appreciate the work of the Department of Commerce inspector general’s office in bringing this new abuse to light, I intend to seek answers about failed department spending controls as well as how anyone in government could believe these expenses were legitimate.”
The Senate Commerce Committee exercises primary legislative jurisdiction over the Department of Commerce. In 2013, former EPA official John Beale pled guilty to felony theft after stealing approximately $900,000 in taxpayer supported pay, bonuses, and expenses that included five-star hotels and first class airline tickets. The General Service Administration (GSA) was the subject of an investigation by its own inspector general for a 2010 Las Vegas conference that cost over $800,000 and presented an award to video that lampooned agency obligations to manage taxpayer funds.
