Homeland Security Furniture: $148 Million Spending Spree?
Homeland Security Furniture: $148 Million Spending Spree?

Homeland Security Furniture: $148 Million Spending Spree?Although the Department of Homeland Security's fiscal 2015  budget is still under review, the agency should be sitting pretty comfortably these days. Between FY 2010 and 2014, the DHS spent approximately $148 million on office furniture and makeovers, according to an article in the Washington Free Beacon.

Almost 20 percent of that was spent in the last fiscal year alone. According to information on USASpending.gov, the agency spent approximately $28 million on furniture and related items in FY 2014, including:

• $2.4 million for a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service office

• $1.3 million for a U.S. Customs and Border Protection office building

• $1.1 million for furniture and installation at a Transportation Security Administration office

• and another $608,146 on modular casegoods at U.S. Customs and Border Protection building

It's not only corporations like Herman Miller and Steelcase that are benefiting from this bout of spending. Federal Prison Industries also raked in $5.9 million, winning 139 of 1,334 contracts awarded by DHS in fiscal 2014.

While waiting for the budget's passage, DHS' spending continues, a move which bodes well for contract furniture manufacturers. Already in fiscal 2015 there are 250 contracts on the book — to the tune of $1.6 million.

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