Agencies Don't Know Exactly How Many ‘Special Government Employees’ They Employ

Government Executive reports:

Federal agencies collectively employ more than 1,100 full-time high-level temps called “special government employees.” But counts of SGEs are not always reliable, according to a report released on Monday by the Government Accountability Office.

As a result, said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who requested the report, agencies are at increased risk of running into conflicts of interest. Both Congress and the Office of Government Ethics should address that risk, the senator said.

Grassley’s questions on SGEs—an employment option that dates back to 1962 as a vehicle for agencies to tap expertise without a long-term hiring commitment—stemmed from his learning in 2013 that Hillary Clinton deputy Huma Abedin held that status at the State Department while she simultaneously worked for the Clinton Foundation and a private New York global advisory firm Teneo.

Another failure of big government. No accountability for you!