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New allegations of bonus blowout by GSA

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    Capitol Hill hearing pours over lavish spending

  • Duration 5:17
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Hunt Fox News alert new allegations of overspending.

By that GSA.

Just as this hearing on its waste of taxpayer dollars gets under way.

On Capitol Hill new report finding the agency handed out thirty million dollars in unreported bonuses.

Are at the hearing has started also there are concerns for investigators over these lavish conferences the latest a quarter million dollar event outside of Washington with.

20000 dollars spent on -- alone.

Yeah I talk to California congressman Jeff -- about that just before the hearing started news comes.

-- -- a good morning thank you for your time.

Thanks buildings -- back we're all watching this hearing from afar what -- -- -- covering this.

Well quite a few things I mean this is one of those hearings that there's so much material so much show waste in government.

There it's almost biblical to where you start having these conferences that the president did an executive order on a year ago.

Continue to go on 77 conference's after the president -- an executive order.

And then the vice president was supposed to do -- a across the board with every department every department secretary make sure these bonuses weren't happening and we found there's this three point seven million dollars in bonuses.

Just within GSA.

One bonus for performance another bonus for tier -- -- bonus I mean several different bonuses coming out of several different pots of money but the most egregious act.

-- where they've broken the law and tried to get around congress with this new building -- World Trade Center and -- New York.

They're gonna spend 300 and over three and fifty million dollars on a -- Without having any idea what tenants are going in there or it cost justification.

They're just circumventing congress and that's -- both parties that rate that's a strong statement they've broken the law.

What's it like hit.

That is the that is the biggest thing that we're we're discussing right now is -- at three different areas of the law that they broken.

Even by GSA's own standards on their website it says that they cannot do -- -- more than one point five million dollars and yet they've done 350 million dollar at least so they not only broken their own policy but they've broken a -- here and so we want to see exactly how they expect to.

Say that they're not breaking the law we've already asked for Department of Justice opinion on this but this is not just a Republican issue or -- -- issue.

This has both parties infuriated.

On how the administration can go around -- -- Is prepared apparently to talk about 37 conferences that have been canceled so far in addition reforms and travel are ready in place.

He's also -- shown here -- question on that is that's sufficient.

No it's not sufficient and there's this whole shelve -- we got into this that we started defining all the conferences and we found out there were so many other conferences there were happening because.

Instead of defining with -- conference they define it as a celebration so.

This Washington DC.

Party that they had with the drum sticks.

Was a celebration instead of a conference these bonuses -- they're giving they have performance bonuses but the mental all of these other bonuses from different pots of money.

So the transparency that the president and administration continues to talk about is a whole shell game where -- hiding money.

And hiding waste -- got my -- I -- ironically happening right now in Nashville Tennessee at opry land is a GSA conference.

It's called a Smart paid training conference I went on the web site earlier today I'm still not quite sure what the objective is here.

When they talk about Smart pay in later tonight on the general Jackson steamboat there's a reception with entertainment that follows that what's going on -- Nash.

Yeah amazing how they continue to talk about how they're cutting waste in government but trying to justify how you're taking a big -- get on -- steamboat.

I mean you can look from their own website not only that though the lavish rooms in the presidential suite at the the Gaylord where they're having this event.

But a steamboat.

How and -- today's time with today's unemployment is that justified room.

The GSA's duty by the way is to oversee federal property right this is real estate.

Of which there are 141000.

Vacant or under use properties.

That the GSA overseas.

What's the price tag on -- for taxpayers.

It's not only billions of dollars in maintenance and upkeep ability of these buildings but it's hundreds of billions of dollars of what we could sell all of these different properties and if you want to really get.

The biggest bang for your -- if we could sell those properties.

And get away from paying this ongoing maintenance every year.

We actually get people back to work the jobs -- be created.

And in the tax revenue once private industry -- a lot of these buildings that are being used today it's a huge.

Windfall of money.

And I have a bill that's over in the senate we passed it out of the house on a bipartisan level it you don't the president continues to talk about it.

Demand the senate.

Pass the bill so that we can sell these.

John Mica Florida puts a price tag -- this real estate in the billions of dollars.

Jeff -- thank you for your time that hearing continues on the hill now thank you sir.

Bill thanks for having --

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