Taxpayers foot bill for Mayorkas’ generosity; employees given $2.6 billion in extra vacation time:
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has given so much extra time off to department employees that one of his agencies has had to create an internal system to help employees keep track of it.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said its “leave-tracking tool” will make it easier for supervisors to see who is using the generous time off and for employees to monitor how much they have used and how much they have remaining.
Employees call Mr. Mayorkas the “patron saint of administrative leave” — or just St. Ali, for short — in recognition of his extravagant promises of extra time off. In 2023, he doled out nine additional vacation days to each employee, and he is on track for 10 this year.
The Homeland Security Department says the additional leave time rewards employees doing tough jobs under trying circumstances.
Critics say Mr. Mayorkas is trying to buy the affection of employees he put under those circumstances, particularly the department’s tens of thousands of immigration employees.
“This is all political, and it’s all for show,” said Emilio Gonzalez, who ran USCIS in the Bush administration. “It’s to address the stress, not the underlying problem.”
Last week, Mr. Mayorkas granted employees an additional day off in honor of Labor Day.
“In recognition of your selfless service to country, tireless devotion to duty and extraordinary accomplishments, I am privileged to grant all personnel 8 hours of administrative leave that can be used this calendar year or next,” he wrote in a notice to employees.
The department has more than 250,000 employees. Their pay varies widely, but a conservative estimate that they average GS-10 level, with a starting hourly rate just above $50, works out to $900 million in potential paid time off last year and $500 million this year.
Mr. Mayorkas has granted nearly $2.6 billion in extra paid time off during his tenure.
House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, Tennessee Republican, said that’s a problem for a secretary who is struggling to manage the border and, at times, claiming he lacks the money to do it.
“My committee has even been told by DHS sources that Secretary Mayorkas has handed out leave at a rate far beyond his predecessors, all while he simultaneously complains about a supposed ‘lack of resources’ to secure the border,” Mr. Green said in a statement. “DHS law enforcement deserve much-needed time off to rest and recuperate from the demands of the job. However, the secretary has demonstrated that he has no clear plan for how to balance this need with the department’s mission.” --->READ MORE HERE
Buying friends: Mayorkas gave $1 billion in extra vacation to DHS employees (2023):
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has granted his employees more than $1 billion worth of additional taxpayer-funded vacation time, according to department staffers, who say Mr. Mayorkas is using taxpayers’ money in an ill-fated attempt to win affection from an alienated workforce.
Mr. Mayorkas, who has been on the job for roughly 2½ years, has approved 115 hours of additional leave per employee. That includes 45 hours, or more than a full extra week off, in his first year, followed by 48 hours in 2022 and 24 hours so far this year.
Figuring 260,000 department employees and an average hourly pay of about $40 per employee, that means Mr. Mayorkas has doled out at least $1.2 billion in additional taxpayer-funded vacation time. Law enforcement and high cost-of-living locality pay could mean the actual figure is significantly higher.
“The numbers are astounding,” said Emilio Gonzalez, who ran one of the department’s agencies in the Bush years. “You’re hovering at just over a billion dollars right now, on the low end. And for an agency that’s constantly pleading poverty, that’s a lot of money.”
The vacations have become a bit of a joke among department employees and a headache for managers who say there’s so much extra time floating around that they have trouble keeping track of it all. --->READ MORE HERE
If you like what you see, please "Like" and/or Follow us on FACEBOOK
here, GETTR
here, and TWITTER
here.
No comments:
Post a Comment