WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. government’s federal procurement office is resigning and two senior officials have been dismissed ahead of a report criticizing the agency’s lavish spending on an “over the top” training conference, the White House said on Monday.
Many expenditures by the General Services Administration for the October 2010 conference at a resort outside Las Vegas were “excessive and wasteful” and violated the agency’s own policies, said a report by the GSA’s Office of Inspector General.
GSA spent $820,000 on the Oct. 25-29 gathering at M Resort Spa Casino, a cost that included pre-conference scouting trips, a “red carpet” dinner with “theatrical talent” and a post-dinner wrap party in a loft suite, according to an executive summary of the report made public on Monday.
