EXCLUSIVEHow a Biden federal employee got paid for 'teleworking' while actually spending four DAYS in jail on a DUI charge
Shocking new instances of rampant telework abuse under the Biden administration are coming to light over four years since the COVID pandemic started.
A whistleblower came forward to reveal that a longtime former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) federal bureaucrat Tracy Vargas may have been collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck for four days she spent behind bars.
In March 2020, the agency enacted 'mandatory telework' to deal with the rising rates of COVID-19 infection nationwide.
Just two months later, Vargas, who worked for HUD for 20 years, was arrested in May 2020 at 3:28 p.m. local time for 'driving under the influence of alcohol.' She spent four days in county jail in Oklahoma and did not submit any leave request, according to the whistleblower.
Vargas was allegedly 'successfully paid' during that period, claiming she was 'engaged in union activities' that is covered under taxpayer-funded union time.
Vargas was arrested in May 2020 at 3:28 p.m. local time for 'driving under the influence of alcohol'
Vargas was also arrested on three other occasions, including for multiple DUIs, between 2020 and 2022.
During that time, she also served as the former president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3138.
In April 2023, Vargas allegedly 'confessed' to an AFGE staff member that she misappropriated $17,000.
However, after a review, the federation found that the amount was actually closer to $20,500.
In August 2023, she was 'suspended' from all AFGE affiliated offices.
Last month, she was formally charged by the Department of Labor Office of Labor-Management Standards for ‘making false statements and fraudulently reporting no receipts of union funds to conceal how she was embezzling them for personal use.’
Senator Joni Ernst, who uncovered the whistleblower concerns, told DailyMail.com that this incident shows just how 'unserious' the Biden-Harris administration is about ensuring employees are working on the clock.
'I am not sure if it is worse that no one in HUD's management noticed an employee was in jail instead of at work, or that when it was brought to their attention, they shrugged it off as acceptable behavior,' Ernst said.
'Under no circumstance should taxpayers be paying for federal employees to take a four-day trip to the county jail. Bureaucrats need to know if they do the crime, then they're not going to get paid a dime from taxpayers.'
HUD told DailyMail.com that the agency 'does not comment on personnel matters' when asked to respond to claims about Vargas.
And Vargas' employment with the agency wasn't terminated until the criminal charges were brought against her, according to Ernst.
In January 2020, Vargas was booked in Oklahoma county jail on her first DUI charge
In April 2020, Vargas was arrested yet again at around 1 a.m. local time
Ernst writes in a letter to HUD's Acting Secretary Adrienne Todman on Wednesday that the American people 'deserve to know how much money in taxpayer-funded union time they are on the hook for across the government, including at HUD.'
'They should have no questions as to whether employees being paid for taxpayer-funded union time are performing their duties or in a county jail,' she continues.
The staggering incident comes as other Biden federal agencies are dealing with abuse of telework policies.
Senator Joni Ernst, who uncovered the whistleblower concerns, told DailyMail.com that this incident shows just how 'unserious' the Biden-Harris administration is about ensuring employees are working on the clock
Local Social Security Administration (SSA) office staff are ignoring 'simple requests' for months.
An organizational payee worker in Sioux City, Iowa, recently disclosed that the local Social Security field office has been ignoring outreach entirely since December.
The whistleblower wrote in a disclosure obtained first by DailyMail.com that their department faxed 12 intakes to the SSA office but had 'not received any calls on them' as of March 7.
Vargas was arrested again in February 2022 for her 'second DUI offense in 10 years'
Some of the intakes date back to December 2023, according to the whistleblower, allowing several months to go unanswered.
The whistleblower says that their office is not able to take more referrals until there is 'movement' on the ones faxed over months ago.
'I'm at a loss of what to do to get things moving in the right direction,' the exacerbated whistleblower writes in an email to the SSA office's assistant district manager.
Now top Iowa Republicans Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Randy Feenstra are moving concerns up the food chain to the agency's top watchdog.
'I'm at a loss of what to do to get things moving in the right direction,' the exacerbated whistleblower writes in an email to the SSA office's assistant district manager
The SSA headquarters in Washington, D.C., had the most unused office space of any Biden agency at just 7 percent according to a recent report - meaning 90 percent is unoccupied daily wasting billions of taxpayer dollars
Ernst to the USDA inspector general Wednesday in a letter first obtained by DailyMail.com expressing issues with the secretary's testimony
There have been 'multiple reports' of organizational payees in Iowa 'experiencing egregious delays with their SSA field office,' they state.
'Alarmingly, the SSA field office in Sioux City, Iowa has established a pattern of ignoring outreach from Organizational Payees entirely,' the lawmakers write to Social Security Inspector General Gail Ennis.
SSA field office employees may only telework two days per week, according to a staff directive from February.
But the Sioux City SSA field office's timing for addressing simple requests 'often takes weeks to months, denying everyone involved access to answers and assistance, and imparting significant delays on beneficiaries.'
'What's more, when presented with concerns about response times, the Sioux City SSA field office is dismissive or provides no substantive updates, if an answer is provided at all. This is unacceptable,' Ernst and Feenstra say.
The SSA headquarters has the most unused office space of any Biden agency at just 7 percent according to a recent report - meaning 90 percent is unoccupied daily wasting billions of taxpayer dollars.
'It is well past time for the federal workforce to return to work at their duty stations,' the lawmakers write.
The spotlight on the Social Security Administration comes days after Biden's Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was put on the hot seat for the agency's work from home posture.
Biden's Chief of Staff Jeff Zients also ordered Cabinet heads to ensure that their workforce returns to the office this year
Another whistleblower at the agency expressed issues with the Biden administration's 'impersonal and inefficient' telework policies.
A federal employee, who describes themself as a supervisor at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), disclosed to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, that remote work is 'negatively affecting productivity, efficiency, and cooperation.'
The senator brought up the whistleblower concerns to Vilsack during a recent hearing, during in which he insisted employees are expected to be in the office the 'majority of the week.'
But in practice, that is not happening.
The whistleblower went on to say that the 'vast majority' of USDA employees are working remotely, and the unused federal office headquarters resembles a 'ghost town' with empty hallways and vacant offices.
The USDA was found to be at only 11 percent occupied between January and March 2023 and more than 75 percent of the available office space at 17 different federal agencies is still empty, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Vilsack took issue with that stat, saying the GAO calculation is 'not even close to correct.'
But Ernst says that the agency's estimates were based on 'average space utilization taken over a three-month period less than a year ago.'
The biggest issue, according to the whistleblower, is how limited in-person interaction is 'hampering productivity.'
Remote employees 'are often unreachable and do not respond to simple email questions for hours,' the whistleblower continues.
'This leads to inefficiency in completing tasks in a timely manner and to delays in clearing documents and reports due to the inability to reach colleagues.'
In addition, the lack of in-person work is 'hindering discussions' regarding problem solving, idea generation and socializing with colleagues.
As a supervisor, the whistleblower says it's an 'obstacle' to the 'simple act' of earning trust and confidence.
'Working by email and video conferencing is impersonal and inefficient compared to in-person interaction.'
The whistleblower says having employees back in the office full-time would 'restore productivity and efficiency.'
Republicans are attempting to hold the administration to account on this issue that they say is plaguing the nation.
Last month, the House passed a new bill that will force the federal workforce to get back into the office.
The bill led by Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., requires federal agencies to use their offices at a 60 percent capacity rate or sell the buildings.
Republicans say its an insult to taxpayers as agencies spend about $2 billion a year to operate and maintain over 11,000 acres of federal office buildings and over $5 billion annually in leases.
In addition to unused physical office space, employees are facing productivity challenges due to the impersonal nature of remote work.
A current U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) whistleblower wrote to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, late last year according to a copy of the correspondence obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com
President Joe Biden, joined by US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, tours Dutch Creek Farms in Northfield, Minnesota, on November 1
Unused federal office space wastes an estimated of $2.8 million per day, and is becoming a huge headache for Biden who is attempting to bring back employees to in-person work.
Biden's Chief of Staff Jeff Zients also ordered Cabinet heads to ensure that their workforce returns to the office this year.
According to a memo obtained by DailyMail.com, he wrote earlier this year that federal employees should be in the office at least 50 percent of their work time in order to achieve the goals of the administration.
