The 'Swamp' Trump Is Trying To Drain Isn't Really A Swamp — It's An Ocean

Investors Business Daily

The nonprofit watchdog group Open The Books has put out a new report, "Mapping The Swamp," that seeks to flesh out what has, until now, merely been a metaphor. What it found is eye-opening, and shows the size of the challenge that lies before President Trump as he seeks to drain it.

"We found small and large agencies across the federal government gaming the system for personal gain — and it's expensive for the taxpayer," said Adam Andrzejewski, CEO and founder of OpenTheBooks.com. "Congress should hold hearings to bring transparency to all the information we're still missing, including performance bonuses and pension payouts. It's time to squeeze out waste from compensation and stop abusive payroll practices."

It's hard to get your arms around just how big our government is — and how wasteful. But "Mapping The Swamp" does a good job of it in just 35 pages.

Start with the cost. The work force that the government directly employs costs just over $1 million per minute, or more than half a billion dollars a day. And that doesn't include the more than two million people employed by the Defense Department or on active duty.

All told, in 2016, no doubt a peak year for the swamp, there were 1.97 million people on the federal payroll with a total compensation cost of $136.8 billion a year.

When you tote it all up, including the military, it's a huge sum: nearly four million employees with a total annual cost of $221 billion a year.

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We all know military pay isn't high, but bureaucrats don't come cheap. The average benefit package includes 10 federal holidays, 13 sick days and 20 vacation days — that's four weeks — a year. The benefits alone cost taxpayers just under $23 billion a year.

The report even suggests that the government has an unofficial minimum wage: $100,000 a year. That's the minimum average salary for 78 out of 122 federal departments and agencies, although some individuals make less. Even so, the report notes, "29,852 federal employees out-earned each of the 50 state governors receiving more than $190,823."

It used to be people went into government to do good. Now, apparently, it's to do well.

Here's what those "selfless" government employees earn:

1. The federal government pays its disclosed workforce $1 million per minute, $66 million per hour, and $524 million per day. In FY2016, the federal government disclosed 1.97 million employees at a cash compensation cost of $136.3 billion.

2. Over a six-year period (FY2010-2016), the number of federal employees making $200,000 or more has increased by 165 percent; those making $150,000 or more has grown by 60 percent; and those making more than $100,000 has increased by 37 percent.

3. On average, federal employees are given 10 federal holidays, 13 sick days, and 20 vacation days per year. If each employee used 13 sick days and took 20 vacation days in addition to the 10 federal holidays, it would cost taxpayers an estimated $22.6 billion annually.

4. In FY2016, a total 406,960 employees made six-figure incomes – that's roughly one in five disclosed federal employees. Furthermore, 29,852 federal employees out-earned each of the 50 state governors receiving more than $190,823.

5. At 78 out of the 122 independent agencies and departments we studied, the average employee compensation exceeded $100,000 in FY2016.

6. With 326 employees at a total cash compensation of $28.8 million, we found a federal agency in San Francisco – Presidio Trust – paid out three of the top four federal bonuses including the largest in the federal government in FY2016. The biggest bonus went to an HR Manager in charge of payroll for $141,525.