An investigation by a Republican-oriented watchdog group, Cause of Action, has found that some agencies are ignoring President Obama’s 2011 order to limit spending on promotional or commemorative swag for employees and events as part of the administration’s waste cutting campaign.
Cause of Action said it conducted a six-month investigation of 32 agencies and examined spending data, some of it obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, to identify spending classified as, for example, commemorative, and found about $1.2 million in questionable spending.
For example, it discovered that a hockey fan in the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, spent more than $12,000 on commemorative items for a single conference, including 300 pucks branded with the COPS logo.
The USDA’s Rural Development office reportedly gave each of its 120 employees their choice of portable electronic device, such as an iPod or Nook.
Cause of Action found instances in which agencies appeared to be acting prudently or at least getting good deals on swag, however it said it identified a pattern of “failures to track and document spending on promotional items, making accountability impossible.”
