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Mayorkas Gives DHS Employees Extra Vacation Time, Taxpayers Pick Up $2.6 Billion Tab

AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

What can we say about embattled Homeland Security Department Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that hasn't already been said? 

That I can publish, I mean. 

Some among us believe the guy should be tried for treason, convicted, and thrown into prison, while others believe he should simply be impeached and convicted. One thing I'll say is that the arrogant DHS head strikes me — smugly so — as viewing himself as superior to anyone who dares to question anything he does or says, which is exactly what I'm going to do in this article.

So, we learned on Monday that Mayorkas has given so much extra time off to DHS employees that one of his agencies was forced to create an internal system to help employees keep track of all of their extra time off.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the new “leave-tracking tool” will make it easier for supervisors to see which employees are taking advantage of the generous time off, and also for employees to keep track of how much time off they've used, and how much they have left.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? 

"Department of Homeland Security." 

"Biden-Harris Border Crisis." 

"No end in sight." 

Yeah, that. Here's more:

Employees call Mr. Mayorkas the “patron saint of administrative leave” — or just Saint Ali, for short — in recognition of his extravagant promises of extra time off beyond what employees are entitled to. In 2023, he doled out nine full additional vacation days to each employee, and he is on track for 10 this year. 

The department says it’s a reward for employees doing tough jobs well amid trying circumstances. Critics say he’s trying to buy the affection of employees who he put into those tough circumstances, particularly when it comes to the department’s tens of thousands of immigration employees.

Emilio Gonzalez, who ran USCIS in the Bush administration, suggests another explanation. 

This is all political and it’s all for show. It’s to address the stress, not the underlying problem

I'm with Emilio.

Mayorkas's latest "grant" came in honor of Labor Day — in addition to the holiday itself — when he told employees in a notice that they could take an additional day off.

In recognition of your selfless service to country, tireless devotion to duty and extraordinary accomplishments, I am privileged to grant all personnel 8 hours of administrative leave that can be used this calendar year or next.

Let's do the math.

While their pay varies widely, a conservative estimate counts more than 250,000 employees. While their actual pay varies widely, a conservative estimate, with a starting hourly rate of $50, extra paid time off (PTO) in 2023 would have been $900 million, and $500 million so far in 2024.

Mayorkas has doled out nearly $2.6 billion in extra PTO since he's headed the DHS. Correction: US taxpayers have doled out nearly $2.6 billion in extra PTO since Mayorkas has been calling the shots at the department.


More Mayorkas Malarkey:

Mayorkas Goes Full Stand-Up Comic, Claims 'We've Done an Extraordinary Job Dealing With Immigration'

Mayorkas Says America Needs MORE Illegal Aliens in Softball Interview—'Wouldn't It Be More Orderly?'

Mayorkas Calls Impeachment 'Baseless' in Smug, Deceitful Letter to Homeland Security Committee


Here's the rub. Actually, two rubs.

First, if Mayorkas was the CEO of his own company and wanted to give extra PTO to his employees, all good. His business, nobody else's. But that's not the case when he's generously doling out taxpayer money to make himself look like "the patron saint of administrative leave" to government employees.

Second, let's call it "optics." 

The Biden-Harris Border Crisis™ continues, unabated. It's Mayorkas's job to secure the border. Yet, what has he done? Other than lying about the border being "secure," not "wide open," and other such nonsense for more than three-and-a-half years? 

I got nothin'.

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