It is hard to keep track of all the waste, corruption, and mismanagement propagated by government agencies in recent years, including the DOD, PTO, VA, and others.
In researching my new study on the federal Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs), I ran across a story of federal failure that the national media has overlooked.
One of the PMAs, the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), has been racked by scandal in recent years. WAPA is an agency of 1,450 workers within the Department of Energy.
Investigations found that WAPA employees have been using government credit cards for millions of dollars of personal spending on items such as guns, car parts, and sports equipment. ABC News reported “outlandish spending” by WAPA employees, and Sen. John McCain of Arizona charged the agency with “widespread waste and mismanagement.”
When whistleblowers inside WAPA raised concerns, they were subjected to threats from agency managers to keep quiet. WAPA has apparently accumulated a large slush fund of unobligated revenues, which has helped to facilitate the wasteful and illegal spending.