NYP: Biden-era State Department upgraded pools in Iraq, Russia

The Biden administration’s State Department is under fire for approving over $1.2 million to refurbish swimming pools at U.S. embassies in some of the world’s most unstable and impoverished regions, a new analysis by Senator Joni Ernst’s office reveals.

During President Biden’s term, federal agencies placed at least 14 orders linked to swimming pool enhancements across seven countries, including Russia – despite the latter’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

These findings, compiled from the USASpending.gov database, were highlighted by Senator Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, who voiced her frustration over what she described as irresponsible spending.

“Bureaucrats might think wasting millions is a drop in the bucket, but I am sick and tired of taxpayers getting tossed in the deep end by Washington,” Ernst said.

The investigation revealed that most of the pool-related expenses involved upgrades rather than new installations.

Notably, the US Embassy in Baghdad spent nearly $444,000 on an indoor dehumidification system upgrade for its pool – part of a compound originally built at a cost exceeding $750 million. Additionally, a $130,000 upgrade in Harare, Zimbabwe included new pool covers at US mission residences.

Another example includes approximately $40,000 spent in 2022 on replacing the swimming pool sewer pump at the US Embassy in Moscow. The contract was issued just under three months after Russia launched its full-scale assault on Ukraine.

Overall, the analysis identified two pool-related projects in Haiti, five in Iraq, three in Sudan, and one each in Russia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, and Indonesia. Some of the listed contracts, such as the $173,000 earmarked for a “prapatan swimming pool project”, remain unpaid according to federal records.

“I will continue working with the Trump administration to put a stop to the splashy spending of the Biden years,” Ernst added.

Ernst, who leads the Senate’s Department of Government Oversight and Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus, has been leading efforts to expose and curtail wasteful federal expenditure, including a separate campaign targeting taxpayer-funded union activities.

By Aghakazim Guliyev