Dead Federal Bureaucrats Collecting Pensions
The Associated Press reported today (HT radio talk show host Mark Levin) that “(t)he federal government has doled out more than $600 million in benefit payments to dead people over the past five years,” citing a report from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's Inspector General (requires Adobe).
Today’s Washington Post also reported the story on the federal page (A16). Ed O’Keefe, who reported on the story for the Post, pointed out the OPM IG had previously reported on such “improper payments” in 2005 and 2008. According to O'Keefe:
“Improper payments to dead retirees increased 70 percent in the past five years, far higher than the 19 percent climb in overall annuity payments, the report said.
“The payments are on the rise because OPM is doing a poor job of tracking potential cheats, McFarland said. In one case, a deceased annuitant’s son continued receiving federal benefits until 2008 — 37 years after his father’s death. OPM learned about the improper payments — which exceeded $515,000 — only after the son died. The agency never recovered the money.”
The Inspector General reported several “positive developments” in protecting the integrity of payments from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF). However, the IG also said:
“ . . . there remains a high probability that egregious loss of monies from the CSRDF will continue and require strategic corrective actions. Each year new cases are identified which support this concern, such as an annuitant’s son who continued to receive benefits until 2008, 37 years after his father’s death in 1971. The improper payment in this case exceeded $515,000 and was reported to OPM when the son, who fraudulently received the payments, died. The improper payment was not recovered.”
How many times do you have to hit a bureaucrat over the head? Why have an IG if bureaucrats aren’t going to respond to his reports? And did Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner, or Representative Jim Moran, ask any questions about these so-called improper payments? Hardworking taxpayers would like to know.
Arlington County taxpayers concerned about such slothful bureaucracy may want to take a few minutes to voice their concerns to their poohbahs on Capitol Hill. Better yet, write to them at the links below:
- Senator Jim Webb (D) -- write to him or call (202) 224-4024.
- Senator Mark Warner (D) - write to him or call (202) 224-2023.
- Representative Jim Moran (D) -- write to him or call (202) 225-4376.