The Department of Labor recently responded to a letter from Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) seeking to prevent furloughed employees from receiving unemployment benefits.
Camp was joined by Human Resources Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) and 17 committee members in signing the Oct. 24 letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Burwell. According to the letter, some furloughed employees applied for unemployment benefits during the federal government shutdown. Because of state laws, it was possible that some furloughed employees would receive back pay as well as unemployment benefits.
“Under that scheme you get paid not just once, but twice, not to work,” Camp said. “Where is the logic in that? It is that kind of misuse of taxpayer dollars that the American people hate about Washington, and we need to stop this practice now.”
The Department of Labor responded by instructing states to recover any overpayments to federal employees who received unemployment benefit as a result of the shutdown but who also had their pay restored by Congress.
“I am pleased that the administration took swift action in response to the committee’s call to stop the practice of double-dipping,” Camp said in response. “Had this been allowed to continue, it would have further threatened the integrity of the unemployment benefits program. Unemployment benefits are intended to serve unemployed individuals who have been laid off through no fault of their own, and not temporarily furloughed Federal employees who have already received full back pay. It is the job of the government to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure they are used efficiently and effectively. Today’s announcement reinforces that we can, and will, hold the government accountable so that it works for taxpayers, not against them.”