Senator Ernst Introduces Bill to Create Public Directory of Federal Employees

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has introduced legislation that would require the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to create a comprehensive public directory of federal government employees, including their salaries, job descriptions, and other employment details.

The Where’s the Workforce At Listed by Duties and Office (Where’s WALDO) Act comes in response to a recent report from Open The Books, a conservative fiscal watchdog group, which revealed that the federal workforce has grown larger, more expensive, and less transparent since 2020.

“Like a twisted game of reverse Secret Santa, taxpayers are gifting paychecks to bureaucrats who remain anonymous,” Ernst said. “The American people should not be forced to play ‘Where’s Waldo’ when it comes to figuring out where federal workers are during the workday.”

According to Open The Books’ analysis of publicly disclosed federal salaries for fiscal year 2024, the federal government employs approximately 2.9 million civil service workers with a total payroll of $270 billion, plus an additional 30% for benefits. While the workforce size has increased by 5% since 2020, the payroll has grown nearly five times as much during the same period.

The report paints a striking picture of federal compensation. Nearly 1,000 federal employees now earn more than the president’s $400,000 annual salary. Over 31,000 non-Defense Department employees make more than any state governor, and nearly 800,000 federal workers earn $100,000 or more annually. Perhaps most concerning to transparency advocates is that those earning $300,000 or more have increased by 84% since 2020.

During their investigation, Open The Books discovered that the names of 383,000 federal employees from 56 different agencies were redacted in publicly available data, representing $38.3 billion in taxpayer-funded salaries.

“While federal employees don’t add as much to the debt as safety net programs or defense spending, they do cost us a billion dollars per day,” said John Hart, CEO of Open The Books. “Their performance for taxpayers can be the difference between efficient, effective services and a vicious cycle of administrative bloat.”

The current federal workforce costs American taxpayers approximately $673,000 per minute, $40.4 million per hour, and just under $1 billion per day, according to the watchdog group’s calculations.

Ernst’s proposed legislation would create a directory that includes both government employees and federal contractors. If passed, OPM would have 18 months to develop the system. The directory would be required to include each worker’s name, job title, description of duties, employing agency, primary duty station, annual compensation including bonuses, and employment start date.

Notably, the OPM has expressed support for Ernst’s bill. In a statement to Fox News Digital, an OPM spokesperson said the agency “is proud to support” the legislation, calling the measures “common sense.”

“Transparency and accountability in the federal workforce are essential to maintaining public trust,” the spokesperson added. “Providing the public with clear, standardized information about federal positions, duties and compensation while appropriately protecting employee privacy is an important part of good government.”

The legislation comes as the incoming Trump administration has signaled intentions to reform the federal workforce. Open The Books’ Hart noted that the new administration “has a historic opportunity to bring transparency to the administrative state.”

For taxpayers concerned about government spending, the Where’s WALDO Act represents a significant push toward greater accountability in federal employment practices at a time when federal payroll costs continue to climb dramatically.