The government spent billions on furniture for federal agencies while employees were working from home
A new report from Open the Books revealed that eight departments spent $3.3 billion on furniture during the pandemic.
A new report from Open the Books revealed that the federal government spent billions of dollars to furnish government buildings and agencies that were mostly without staff during the pandemic:
In total, eight departments spent around $3.3 billion on the acquisition of furniture.
Department spending
The report states that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spent $237,960 "on solar-powered picnic tables." The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spent $284,000 "in Herman Miller furniture for their headquarters conference center."
Separately, the State Department purchased $120,000 worth of "brand-new Ethan Allen leather recliners for its embassy in Islamabad." The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was also one of those involved, spending nearly $250,000 "on a conference room 'refresh' with expensive, high-end Herman Miller furniture."
The Environmental Protection Agency increased its furniture stock despite reducing the size of its Philadelphia offices. The report states that it "used relocation as a license to redecorate $6.5 million on high end furniture when moving into smaller space at Four Penn Central."
Minimal use of buildings
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) study published in July reported that in-person staffing at federal agency headquarters was between 9% and 35%. This was caused by several factors: an "increased number of staff working remotely, outdated building configurations, historic utilization problems, and a reluctance for agency leaders to share space with other agencies." Adam Andrzejewski, founder and CEO of Open the Books stated: