❗Let's close the gap: We still need your help to raise $40,000 by April 1. Donate now
News In Brief

The extravagant costs of a Justice Department conference

Bob Moon Sep 20, 2011

This final note. If you’re going to cut the fat in government, what better place to start than extravagant spending on food.

The Justice Department’s inspector general just finished an audit on what that department has been paying for food at conferences. Too much, it seems. The report out today found the Justice Department spent more than $73 million on conferences in 2009, compared to around $48 million just a year earlier. And it blames things like Cracker Jacks and candy bars served at one break, at a cost of $32 per person. At another gathering, the cost of muffins figured out to $16 — per muffin.

I guess they were made with enriched flour.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.