A recent study conducted by the Government Accountability Office found that approximately $5.74 billion in purchases did not follow standard procedure because they were either unauthorized or never even submitted for approval. Purchases involved in the abuse included memberships to internet dating sites, personal electronics, and designer clothes—some of which were bought by personnel within the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. Even more, $2.7 million worth of credit card purchases cannot even be accounted for.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IO) responded to the report, saying that “It’s clear that there continue to be problems with government credit cards. You’d think that after seeing report after report, year after year, agencies would figure out what’s appropriate to spend taxpayer money on. But,” the Senator continued, “it looks like government employees are still ripping off the taxpayer.”

Grassley has teamed up with other outraged Congressional members to put a bill before Congress that would hold employees and possibly their managers responsible for their abuses and negligence. Besides training each cardholder and holding them to stringent standards, the bill would also allow managers to fire employees who abuse their credit card privileges. The bill, which is being introduced to the Senate’s Homeland Security & Government Affairs Committee on Thursday, would also give the Inspector General more oversight of the transactions and records.

At a time when the national debt has reached nearly $9.5 trillion and increases at a rate of more than $1.5 billion everyday, the report has many legislators and citizens outraged. Grassley, who has been looking into credit card abuse at the Department of Defense since 2001, posited that “How somebody can go 6 years fleecing the taxpayer for nearly $650,000 or use an internet dating service without anybody knowing is beyond me. It just gives further evidence that legislation is the only way to stop these outrageous spending habits”

-Jonathan Mason