Ernst pushes Dismantling Double Dippers Act to curb dual federal employment
Bill would require annual payroll audits by the Office of Personnel Management and broaden transparency on government jobs
WASHINGTON — Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, on Tuesday unveiled the Dismantling Double Dippers Act, a bill aimed at tightening rules for federal workers who hold more than one civil service position at the same time. The measure would require annual audits of payroll records and increase transparency around dual employment, with the goal of preventing double billing and timecard fraud. Existing law prohibits full-time government workers from holding multiple federal positions without permission, but Ernst said the legislation would close gaps and strengthen oversight. The Iowa Republican, who chairs the Senate DOGE Caucus, argued that the public deserves to know who is working for the government and how their time is accounted for. “The public, who is paying the salaries of federal employees and contractors, deserves access to this information and the federal government,” she wrote in a letter to the Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor obtained by The Post.
Under the Dismantling Double Dippers Act, the Office of Personnel Management would establish an official watchdog to conduct annual cross-checks of federal payrolls and would require public access to information about government job titles and descriptions. The measure would also push OPM to study the scope of double-dipping and report findings to Congress. The bill comes as Ernst continues a broader push to root out waste and fraud in the federal workforce, a theme she has touted in recent legislation and rhetoric aimed at overlapping government gigs.
Ernst cited several cases to illustrate the problem. Between 2021 and 2024, a Department of Housing and Urban Development worker held multiple full-time contractor gigs with HUD, AmeriCorps, and the National Institutes of Health, and at times billed Uncle Sam for more than 24 hours of work in a day. Crissy Monique Baker pleaded guilty in July to making fraudulent claims about the hours she worked, costing taxpayers an estimated $225,866. She worked across HUD, AmeriCorps and NIH, and at one point claimed to have completed 26 hours of work on 13 days in a month. Another case involved an NSA contractor who filed another Department of War contract at the same time and pled guilty in 2014, bilked taxpayers $65,265, and submitted 79 fraudulent timesheets. Ernst highlighted these disclosures as evidence that the system needs stronger guardrails.
Ernst also pointed to a case that didn’t involve formal double-dipping but is thematically relevant. It involved a top policy adviser at the Environmental Protection Agency who claimed to have been moonlighting in another role at the CIA. John Beale, who was sentenced to 32 months in jail in 2014, managed to keep the arrangement going for 13 years and ripped off taxpayers to the tune of $900,000, according to prosecutors. “This wasn’t a case of moonlighting per se, but the EPA should have known such an arrangement was illegal and better monitored the whereabouts and productivity of one of its senior staff members,” the senator argued.
To better enforce the existing law, the Dismantling Double Dippers Act would require OPM’s official watchdog to conduct an annual audit cross-checking government payrolls. The senator also asked OPM to make information about government job titles and descriptions available to the public, a move she said would increase transparency and deter abuse.
The proposal comes as the Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal workforce, including the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is cited by Ernst as a framework for improving accountability. The GOP lawmaker’s emphasis on auditing and disclosure aligns with a broader push by Republicans to spotlight waste and ensure that payroll data accurately reflects work performed across agencies.
Ernst’s colleagues on the committee have signaled interest in examining how often dual employment occurs and what loopholes remain under current law. Supporters say the measure would provide clearer visibility into who is working in multiple government roles, while opponents warn of potential overreach and increased bureaucratic burden on agencies.
As the bill advances, Ernst’s office said the plan would be accompanied by a formal review of OPM’s capacity to conduct the proposed annual payroll audits and to maintain publicly accessible records on government job titles. Proponents argue that public visibility is essential for taxpayers and for ensuring that federal staffing aligns with agency missions rather than individual pursuit of multiple gigs. Whether the Dismantling Double Dippers Act can gain bipartisan traction remains unclear, but Ernst has positioned it as part of a broader campaign to restore trust in the federal workforce.
