[Karah]

THE DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY – OR DOGE – RECENTLY TOUTED THE CANCELLATION OF A DHHS CONTRACT WITH A TEXAS NONPROFIT “FAMILY ENDEAVORS” THAT DOGE SAYS WILL SAVE 215 MILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY.

BUT WHEN RESEARCHING **THAT CONTRACT –

BETWEEN DHHS AND THE NONPROFIT – WE FOUND THIS GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP HAS BEEN MAKING HEADLINES FOR YEARS.

A FORMER BIDEN OFFICIAL JOINED THE TEXAS NONPROFIT MONTHS BEFORE IT RECEIVED HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH IN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS… BALLOONING ITS BUDGET.

IT LED TO CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRIES IN 2021 –

THAT LED TO INVESTIGATIONS – 

WITH THE DHS INSPECTOR GENERAL CONCLUDING IN 2022 – MILLIONS OF DOLLARS WERE WASTED AS A RESULT OF THE GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING “ENDEAVORS” –

AND FOUND ICE GAVE A CONTRACT TO THE NONPROFIT DESPITE THE GROUP HAVING NO RELATED EXPERIENCE.  

WHILE DOGE’S RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT PUT A RENEWED SPOTLIGHT OVER THE NONPROFIT BY NIXING ONE OF ITS GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS –

WE WENT BACK THROUGH OLD REPORTS THAT FOUND THE MISUSE OF MILLIONS SEVERAL YEARS AGO.

FIRST – HERE’S WHAT DOGE POSTED THIS WEEK – PHOTOS SHOWING EMPTY FACILITIES.

“A FORMER ICE EMPLOYEE AND BIDEN TRANSITION TEAM MEMBER JOINED FAMILY ENDEAVORS – IN EARLY 2021 – AND HELPED SECURE A SOLE-SOURCE HHS CONTRACT FOR OVERFLOW HOUSINGS FROM LICENSED CARE FACILITIES.

AS A RESULT, FAMILY ENDEAVORS INVESTMENTS GREW FROM 8.3 MILLION IN 2020 TO 520 MILLION IN 2023.

SINCE MARCH 2024, HHS PAID 18 MILLION A MONTH TO KEEP THE PECOS FACILITY OPEN DESPITE IT SITTING EMPTY.

WITH OCCUPANCY BELOW 20 PERCENT, HHS WAS ABLE TO TERMINATE THE CONTRACT – SAVING TAXPAYERS 215 MILLION ANNUALLY.”

AN INVESTIGATION BY THE FREE PRESS FOUND 99.6 PERCENT OF ENDEAVORS REVENUE COMES FROM GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.

WITH TWO OF ITS GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS – ONE FROM DHHS AND ANOTHER FROM ICE IN 2021 – LEADING TO CONGRESSIONAL SCRUTINY AND INVESTIGATIONS.

ONE WAS WORTH 87 MILLION DOLLARS 

ANOTHER WAS WORTH 529 MILLION DOLLARS – WHICH AT THE TIME OF THE AWARD – WAS 12 TIMES ENDEAVORS’ ANNUAL BUDGET – ACCORDING TO THE HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.

BOTH WERE AWARDED AS “SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS” –

MEANING IT WASN’T OPENED UP FOR BIDDING – IT WAS GIVEN TO ENDEAVORS WITHOUT COMPETITION FROM OTHER CONTRACTORS –

MONTHS AFTER A FORMER BIDEN OFFICIAL STARTED WORKING WITH THE NONPROFIT AS A SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR MIGRANT SERVICES.

THE HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE WROTE –

“the size of the contracts awarded to Family Endeavors, the manner in which they were awarded, that firm’s lack of equivalent experience, the timing of Mr. LorenzenStraight’s hiring, and his connections to the Biden administration combine to raise serious concerns of potential impropriety.

THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY’S INSPECTOR GENERAL INVESTIGATED THE ALLEGATIONS –

WRITING IN ITS FINDINGS –

“ICE did not adequately justify the need for the sole source contract to house migrant families and spent approximately $17 million for hotel space and services at six hotels that went largely unused between April and June 2021. ICE’s sole source contract with Endeavors resulted in millions of dollars being spent on unused hotel space.

Government contracts must be awarded through an open competitive process, as outlined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

ICE records showed that Endeavors had no experience providing the services covered by the sole source contract, including hotel beds or all-inclusive emergency family residential services.”

IN RESPONSE TO THE INSPECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT –

ICE SAID THERE WAS AN “UNUSUAL AND COMPELLING URGENCY” FOR THE ENDEAVORS CONTRACT –

DUE TO AN INCREASE IN IRREGULAR MIGRANT FLOWS AT THE BORDER.”

ICE USED THIS EXCEPTION TO BYPASS THE REGULATION THAT REQUIRES A COMPETITIVE BID FOR GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.

WHILE PAST GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS WITH ENDEAVORS – WERE SCRUTINIZED UNDER THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION –

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION –

IS CANCELING SOME OF THEIR CONTRACTS ALTOGETHER – ACCORDING TO DOGE.

HOMELAND SECURITY REPOSTED DOGE –

ASKING U.S. ATTORNEY ED MARTIN TO INVESTIGATE –

TO WHICH HE RESPONDED “DULY NOTED. WE ARE ON IT.”

FAMILY ENDEAVORS HAS NOT RESPONDED TO MEDIA COMMENT AS OF THIS RECORDING.

THANKS FOR WATCHING OUR NEWS UPDATE.

FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS I’M KARAH RUCKER.

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