Not since the $640 toilet seats and $434 hammers at the Reagan-era Pentagon has Washington been so atwitter over inflated expenses. According to a new report from the Department of Justice inspector general, the DOJ broke the bank on its conference budget, paying outrageous amounts for meals and snacks during the last year of the Bush administration and first year of the Obama era. Here, a look at the DOJ's food-and-beverage "boondoggle," by the numbers:
$73.3 million
Amount the DOJ spent on conferences in fiscal year 2009
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
$47.8 million
Amount the DOJ spent on conferences the previous year
$4.4 million
Amount spent on 10 conferences analyzed in the inspector general's audit, from October 2007 to September 2009
$490,000
Amount spend on food at those 10 conferences
$600,000
Amount spent on outside event planners at five of the conferences
20
Typical service fee, in percent, charged to the DOJ by the hotel chains hosting the conferences
$16
Cost per muffin at an August 2009 conference (all prices include fees and tips)
$9.60
Cost of each cookie and brownie at the same conference
$4.96 to $8.24
Cost of an 8-ounce cup of coffee at the conferences
$4.84 to $5.57
Cost of a soda at one event
$32
Cost per participant of a snack break — popcorn, Cracker Jacks, and candy bars — at a March 2009 conference
$5
Cost of each Swedish meatball at a $60,000 DOJ reception, cited in a 2007 audit that warned of lax cost controls
Sources: The Atlantic, Bloomberg, Justice Department (PDF), Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, Politico, Washington Times
