Iowa Republicans Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley are seeking answers after receiving disclosures from whistleblowers on the Office of Personnel Management’s decision to reinstate the authority of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive to classify job positions.
It comes after the ATF was found to have unlawfully labeled certain administrative positions as “law enforcement,” a move that cost taxpayers some $20 million.
According to Grassley’s office, new records indicate that the Justice Department’s Justice Management Division, which was supposed to conduct an assessment of the ATF's practices, requested that a different agency do so. The senators say the resulting report revealed “far-reaching failures” across the DOJ and raised further red flags about an unpublished audit carried out by the OPM.
Grassley and Ernst wrote: “[OPM] must fully explain, in detail, the actions taken by ATF, the Justice Department, and JMD to come into full compliance with the law, as well as the oversight mechanisms put in place to prevent millions of taxpayer dollars from being subjected to further ‘substantial waste’ due to the ATF’s illegal misconduct.”
They added: “Further, the Justice Department must provide answers to the taxpayers about how those who were involved in or allowed ATF’s illegal misclassification scheme to continue have been held accountable. The American public deserves transparency from the OPM.”
In letters to the ATF, DOJ’s JDM, and OPM, the two senators are seeking the full unpublished audit from the OPM, among other requests.
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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