Waste Of The Day: Senate Furniture Is Missing

Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigations,

Topline: Over the last decade, more than half the Senate office furniture purchased have some unanswered question attached to them – including where the furniture is located.

The Architect of the Capitol’s Senate Furniture Program “needs significant improvements,” and its “processes for acquiring, safeguarding, transferring, and disposing of furniture are inefficient and ineffective,” according to a new audit from the Architect of the Capitol’s inspector general.

Key facts: The Architect is responsible for maintaining the buildings and grounds on Capitol Hill, but it typically only buys furniture for Senate office buildings.

The office bought 29,603 pieces of furniture from 2014 to 2024, costing taxpayers $22.6 million. “A minimum” of 13,159 pieces of furniture (51%) have “erroneous information,” according to the audit. Some mistakes are minor — an incorrect tag number or description — but others are much larger, including that no one knows where the furniture is, how much it cost, or both.

First, auditors randomly selected a piece of furniture listed in the Architect’s computer catalog, but staffers were unable to locate it. The only clue showing the furniture’s location was a handwritten note from 2012, but the furniture was not actually at that location.

Next, the auditors randomly selected another piece of furniture. Architect staffers were able to find this one, but not any documents showing its cost — they had been lost in a flood.

Finally, auditors allowed Architect staffers to choose the piece of furniture that would be reviewed by the inspector general. Still, auditors found five issues with the hand-selected piece of furniture, including forms with missing signatures and conflicting dollar costs on different documents.

Overall, auditors reviewed 138 pieces of furniture but were unable to locate 71 of them. 

The Architect leases building space to store extra furniture, but the buildings are poorly maintained and are sometimes unusable, according to the audit.

The Architect is also buying too many items. There are “several dozen” microwaves in storage to eventually replace the current microwaves, but the extras may be “obsolete” before they are needed.

Staffers have also been leaving furniture unattended in hallways, which will make it harder to prevent theft, according to the audit.

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com. 

Summary: After the federal government’s $3.3 billion spending spree on furniture during the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s no wonder officials are having trouble keeping track of it all.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com