A DHS office asked staff to bring their own chairs to work; GAO identifies $100B in potential government cost savings

Amid a governmentwide effort to bring federal employees back to the office, a small but powerful biometrics office based in the Department of Homeland Security is now so packed that employees were briefly asked to bring their own chairs to work. An email viewed by FedScoop shows that employees of the Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM) were at one point guided to bring their own chairs to work. That advice was quickly rescinded, with the email saying that despite the initial guidance, staff should not bring their own chairs to the office while thanking employees for their patience as they worked through logistical challenges. OBIM, which was established more than a decade ago to manage the biometric information used to make border security decisions, is based at the Transportation Security Administration’s offices. Another email, also viewed by FedScoop, highlights the severe space constraints at OBIM. Employees were sent lists of conference rooms that could be used for seating options for work. The email said: “With these space limitations, we encourage staff to please be accommodating and share offices and workspaces to the extent it is possible. Please connect directly with your supervisor and division leadership to discuss creative seating solutions. Please remember that we are all in this together and are working to find viable solutions. Thank you again for your patience as we work through these logistical challenges.” Because there isn’t enough office or cubicle space, it’s possible that staffers could unintentionally expose information to those that don’t need to know it, given their proximity to other people, one former OBIM employee said.

As DOGE continues its decimation of the federal workforce, grinds various operations to a halt and touts dubious cost-savings claims, the congressional agency with deep experience rooting out fraud, waste and abuse in government released a litany of recommendations Tuesday that it says could save the public tens of billions of dollars. The Government Accountability Office’s 15th annual report on federal programs that have “fragmented, overlapping, or duplicative goals or actions” identified 148 cost-cutting measures across 43 topic areas, delivering a playbook to Congress and federal agencies aimed at lowering costs, improving programs and increasing revenues. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro said in a press release that the GAO’s updated report details “new and meaningful opportunities to save federal funds across a wide range of programs.” “By addressing this year’s updated list, as well as open recommendations to both agencies and Congress from GAO’s past work, the federal government could potentially save an additional” $100 billion, he added.

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