Republican Iowa Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley called on the Justice Department Monday to hold Biden-era Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives officials accountable for allegedly orchestrating an “illegal scheme” to “misclassify” administrative positions as law enforcement ones for greater pay and benefits.
“We raised concerns because as a result of ATF’s illegal conduct, ATF staff assigned to these positions performed administrative work but unlawfully received enhanced law enforcement pay and benefits to which they were not entitled, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars,” Ernst and Grassley wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, ATF Acting Director Daniel Driscoll and DOJ Assistant Attorney General for Administration Jolene Ann Lauria.
ATF whistleblowers and investigations conducted by the Office of Special Counsel, Office of Personnel Management and ATF’s internal affairs division substantiate the allegations of “illegal conduct” raised by the senators in their letter to the Trump administration officials.
The internal affairs report, completed in January 2024, contains “considerable evidence of gross waste, fraud, and abuse; substantial misconduct and mismanagement; abuse of power; and potential criminal misconduct committed by and under the supervision of then-ATF Office of Human Resources and Professional Development (HRPD) Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) Lisa Boykin and HR Division Chief Ralph Bittelari,” according to the lawmakers.
The senators highlight Bittelari’s alleged efforts to “fraudulently” certify an ATF workforce wellness role as a law enforcement gig – boosting pay and benefits for the position – despite receiving warnings and pushback from others at the bureau.
“The illegal misclassification scheme hampered the agency’s ability to carry out its law enforcement mission,” Grassley and Ernst wrote.
The pair presented evidence which appears to show that the ATF relocated 100 field-level officers to its headquarters in Washington, DC, for human resources and professional development roles – while allowing them to continue receiving law-enforcement level wages.
Boykin and Bittelari “disregarded” Office of Personnel Management directives after the agency concluded an audit and suspended the ATF’s classification authority, and continued to classify HR positions as law enforcement ones, “further wasting taxpayer dollars,” according to the senators.
“The OPM audit report found that experienced, rank and file ATF HR employees were passed over for career advancements and promotions because ATF assigned unqualified, inexperienced special agents to these leadership roles within [the ATF Office of Human Resources and Professional Development] and paid them more for doing similar work,” the senators wrote.
They also noted that the scheme cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
“In addition to undermining ATF’s mission, this HR scheme was also costly,” the lawmakers said, noting that the OPM estimates the scheme cost taxpayers “around $20 million during the five-year period they reviewed.”
Grassley and Ernst claim whistleblowers have told them that figure is “substantially understated” and could potentially be “in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”
The lawmakers asked the Trump administration to hold Boykin and Bittelari accountable for their “gross misconduct” — noting that the pair remain employed at the Department of Justice despite their alleged role in the scheme.
“The Biden administration’s ATF illegally lined employees’ pockets with tens-of-millions of taxpayer dollars. These Washington bureaucrats must answer for their misconduct, and if heads don’t roll, nothing will change,” Grassley said in a statement.
“It is unacceptable that the Biden administration looked the other way while ATF bureaucrats knowingly defrauded taxpayers to pad their salaries,” Ernst said. “These desk jockeys pretending to be law enforcement officers are about to get a crash course in the law.”
“I look forward to Attorney General Pam Bondi sending a clear message that federal employees are not above the law and stealing tax dollars is a crime.”
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