Sen. Chuck Grassley has pressed for better oversight of a $9.6 billion program meant to help homeowners who suffered during the housing crisis. Amid the poor federal oversight, a Nevada state agency engaged in “widespread waste and abuse in spending” and “abused the Hardest Hit Fund with, seemingly, a sense of entitlement and no appreciation for the fact that it was taking funds for itself from the homeowners the program intended to help,” according to a 2016 audit. After the Nevada audit, Grassley asked Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) to review the program nationwide for wasteful expenses. A new audit finds $3 million in unnecessary expenses to the Hardest Hit Fund, including barbecues, gift cards, a new customer center, bonuses, picnics and more. Grassley made the following comment.
“Congress didn’t intend this program for bureaucrats to live high on the hog, yet the bureaucrats in question did exactly that. They bought barbecue and gift cards for themselves with taxpayer dollars. $3 million might sound like decimal dust to those who write big checks at the Treasury Department, but it’s a lot of money for people struggling to keep their homes. Every single agency that squandered this money needs to pay back every penny to the American taxpayers. The Treasury Department must make that happen. The buck starts with the Treasury Department, and it stops with the Treasury Department. There’s no excuse to let this slide.”
