Congress’ commission to study the threat of electromagnetic pulse attacks on the U.S. might have overbilled the government by $118,755, the Pentagon inspector general says.
An IG report released Tuesday found an expert used by the long-standing commission claimed 1,131 questionable hours on time cards last year, including 12 hours of work on New Year’s Day and 8 hours on the Fourth of July.
The Pentagon audit of billed hours was requested by Rep. Mac Thornberry, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. It found the unnamed expert’s pay was approved by the commission’s chairman and the Defense Department despite concerns over the accuracy of the claimed hours.
“Basically, I don’t think I can certify an invoice that I don’t think is accurate. Over the 72-day period he billed 928 hours. That’s an average of 12.88 hours EVERY SINGLE day,” according to an email by a contracting officer’s representative quoted in the report. “January was his busiest month. For the 31-day period, he averaged 15.09 hours EVERY SINGLE day. I really doubt those figures.”
The electromagnetic pulse commission was created in 2001 to examine the possibility that a nuclear weapon could be detonated in the upper atmosphere and cause a devastating attack on U.S. infrastructure and electronics.
Last year, Congress renewed the commission and required the leadership on the House and Senate armed services committees to appoint new members. A report on their work is due to lawmakers.
The IG recommended more review of the contract oversight to see if personnel should be held accountable for the billing and another preliminary review to see if some of the expert’s unbilled work hours violated the Antideficiency Act, which bars federal agencies from accepting voluntary services.
William Graham, the commission chairman, challenged the IG report in a lengthy letter.
“The report has the characteristics of a vendetta against a single commission staff subject matter expert arranged by a congressional staff member, a DOD acting assistant secretary, and an IG staff member,” Graham wrote in March.
The IG report provides “no evidence of inappropriate action,” he wrote.
“As its foundation, the report attempts to denigrate the commission senior subject matter expert for being too dedicated to the commission’s mission and for working too hard,” according to Graham, who was an early researcher of electromagnetic pulse, a science adviser to former President Ronald Reagan, and an acting NASA administrator.
An electromagnetic pulse attack could leave only about 30 million Americans alive and a “basically rural economy” where survivors would be forced to produce their own food and other goods, Graham once warned a House committee in 2008.
