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Feds Fly 1st Class on Your Dime
$146M wasted in premium travel
By Peter Fearon
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Posted Oct 3, 07 9:29 AM CDT
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(Newser)
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Federal employees wasted $146 million in a single year flying business or first class, according to a government investigation. Some 67% of premium-class travel is unauthorized or unnecessary, and the biggest abusers are Pentagon, Justice and State Department officials, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.
One political appointee working at the Pentagon took 15 premium-class flights costing $105,000. To justify his flights, he presented a medical note signed by a fellow worker. "No one disputes the fact that government officials need to travel," said one senator. "But the rules are there for a reason and the federal government should enforce them."