U.S gov’t: House sysadmin stole 200 phones, caught by House IT desk | Scheme allegedly cost taxpayers $150,000.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/01/us-govt-house-sysadmin-stole-200-phones-caught-by-house-it-desk/

5 Comments

  1. Knowing what a gs-11 makes these days, that sounds exactly what they paid for. Also, it cost them 150k in physical loss, costs probably double that to replace the employee. Probably cheaper to let it continue.

  2. nathanforyouseason5 on

    Why is the government spending our tax money on phones that average $750 each? In 2023, the iPhone SE is $470 after tax, and the Pixel 7a is $550 after tax. 2025, it’s 16e for $660 and Pixel 9a for $440. Those are more than adequate for work purposes while still being the latest devices.

    Edit: since no one actually clicked the article. He started stealing in 2023 when the iPhone SE3/7a are more than reasonable in a 3/4/5 years hardware lifecycle since they receive updates until 2028. 

  3. If this is the worst thing that happens to us taxpayers this year I’ll consider myself lucky.