Tax payer dollars are fueling the Department of Homeland Security’s Starbucks habit, according to NBC-4 Washington.
NBC-4 submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to see what federal employees had bought with “micropurchases,” purchases less than $3,000 which they do not have to publicly disclose.
Without a FOIA request, “It’s possible no one outside agency bookkeepers will ever know what they bought,” Scott MacFarlane reported.
Between various federal agencies–the U.S. Departments of State, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Defense—the government spent $20,000 billion in these undisclosed purchases.
Employees at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made purchases at Starbucks of as much as $2,400, barely skirting the $3,000 limit. In total, they spent $30,000 in just one year.
“I don’t know the agency’s needs or contingencies, but going to Starbucks seems like a really hard sell,” Brian Miller, previously Inspector General for the U.S. General Services Administration, told NBC-4. He said they should work with a procurement official to ensure tax-payer money is being used responsibly.
“These purchases were made for various reasons, following standard purchase card policy and guidance,” DHS told MacFarlane.
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) saw NBC-4’s reporting and brought the Starbucks case up at a House Oversight subcommittee hearing this month, according to the Washington Post.
The assistant inspector general for audits at the Homeland Security Department’s Office of the Inspector General said the purchases would undergo a review.
