Credit: William Lockwood
A new bill in congress seeks to hold corrupt federal officials accountable.
Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, Democratic Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and Republican Congressman Steve Stivers of Ohio introduced the bipartisan Cut the Perks Act last week. Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo, and Republican Congressman David Young also supported the legislation.
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According to Fitzpatrick’s office, the bill would hold federal officials accountable when they spend taxpayer funds illegally and require political appointees to reimburse the government for illegal expenditures of public money with their own funds.
“Any federal government official found to be making illegal taxpayer-funded purchases should be held fully accountable. By making these federal officials personally reimburse the taxpayer, the Cut the Perks Act would begin restoring the essential trust between the American people and their government,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement.
Currently, there is no recourse for taxpayers if a government inspector general and the Government Accountability Office find federal officials spent taxpayer fund illegally.
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The bill has been referred to the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Fitzpatrick, a former supervisor in the FBI’s political corruption unit, had introduced legislation with the aims of cutting back on problems that impact elected and appointed officials in Washington D.C.
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Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema as a Republican. She is a Democrat.
