Good morning folks - 

I take seriously the responsibility you have entrusted in me to make Washington more competent and less wasteful.

This is why, every month I research and identify areas of abuse and inefficiencies then give out the Squeal Award, which recognizes a Washington expense, program or concept that is not working and must be fixed or eliminated.

This month, my award goes to the U.S. Forest Service ... 

Squeal Award: Taxpayer Dollars are Subsidizing Sexual Misconduct within the U.S. Forest  Service

What happens when a federal agency – funded by taxpayers – is breaking its trust with the American people, by allowing a culture of sexual abuse to exist throughout the agency?

Well, believe it or not, the U.S. Forest Service is that agency.   And, multiple lawsuits and congressional investigations have now been levied at the agency – trying to curtail this horrifying culture of abuse occurring among the ranks of the federal government.  

The U.S. Forest Service has an extensive history of mishandling the repeated claims of sexual assault and harassment within their agency.   For example, earlier this year, Tony Tooke, the former chief, was accused of multiple sexual misconduct allegations, resulting in his resignation.  Moreover, a 2018 survey of employees within the Forest Service’s California region, reported that 22 people indicated that they experienced sexual assault or harassment during their tenure.  Prior to that, in 2016, a congressional committee reported that gender-based discrimination and harassment had become increasingly prevalent within the agency since 2008.   Furthermore, multiple women have filed class-action lawsuits against the Forest Service, shedding light on the inadequacy of the agency’s culture.  It is frankly negligent and downright unacceptable to have this behavior persist for years on end. 

That’s why during a recent nominations hearing of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I tried to get to the bottom of not just why sexual misbehavior was happening – but continuing to happen – at the U.S. Forest Service.  

I came to Washington to make sure that unaccountable bureaucrats know they won’t be able to continue to hide in the shadows. For this reason, I’m presenting this month’s Squeal Award to the U.S. Forest Service for allowing taxpayer dollars to subsidize sexual misconduct within its ranks.

Our society has no place for this sort of behavior and it especially should not be funded by hard-working Americans. 

Do you have an example of government waste or inefficiencies that I should take a look at? Send me an email by clicking here.

Thank you!