Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has given so much extra time off to department employees that one of his agencies has had to create an internal system to help employees keep track of it.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said its “leave-tracking tool” will make it easier for supervisors to see who is using the generous time off and for employees to monitor how much they have used and how much they have remaining.
Employees call Mr. Mayorkas the “patron saint of administrative leave” — or just St. Ali, for short — in recognition of his extravagant promises of extra time off. In 2023, he doled out nine additional vacation days to each employee, and he is on track for 10 this year.
The Homeland Security Department says the additional leave time rewards employees doing tough jobs under trying circumstances.
Critics say Mr. Mayorkas is trying to buy the affection of employees he put under those circumstances, particularly the department’s tens of thousands of immigration employees.
“This is all political, and it’s all for show,” said Emilio Gonzalez, who ran USCIS in the Bush administration. “It’s to address the stress, not the underlying problem.”
Last week, Mr. Mayorkas granted employees an additional day off in honor of Labor Day.
“In recognition of your selfless service to country, tireless devotion to duty and extraordinary accomplishments, I am privileged to grant all personnel 8 hours of administrative leave that can be used this calendar year or next,” he wrote in a notice to employees.
The department has more than 250,000 employees. Their pay varies widely, but a conservative estimate that they average GS-10 level, with a starting hourly rate just above $50, works out to $900 million in potential paid time off last year and $500 million this year.
Mr. Mayorkas has granted nearly $2.6 billion in extra paid time off during his tenure.
House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, Tennessee Republican, said that’s a problem for a secretary who is struggling to manage the border and, at times, claiming he lacks the money to do it.
“My committee has even been told by DHS sources that Secretary Mayorkas has handed out leave at a rate far beyond his predecessors, all while he simultaneously complains about a supposed ‘lack of resources’ to secure the border,” Mr. Green said in a statement. “DHS law enforcement deserve much-needed time off to rest and recuperate from the demands of the job. However, the secretary has demonstrated that he has no clear plan for how to balance this need with the department’s mission.”
Mr. Mayorkas’ generosity is the envy of other federal employees in online forums.
“I heard DHS got the rest of the fiscal year off,” joked one poster at Reddit’s Fednews forum after the Labor Day announcement.
A roll call of other agencies underscored the disappointment.
The Interior Department received two hours, as did the Environmental Protection Agency, the Commerce Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The State Department got three hours. NASA got four hours. An IRS employee chimed in: “We got a very nice email, that’s about it.”
“All of the agencies have the same amount to give each year. I don’t remember exactly what they can give but it’s in the 60 to 80 hour range. It is at the discretion of the secretary of each agency to award it. Unfortunately, most of the secretaries don’t care enough to award it,” one poster said.
Others were skeptical of Mr. Mayorkas’ motives.
“If you’re referring to ‘Saint Mayorkas’ and DHS, Mayorkas is trying to buy his employees forgiveness for how miserable he has made it to work there,” said one commenter.
Public-facing agencies such as the IRS, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration are notoriously stingy with administrative leave because customers quickly complain about a dent in the mission if employees use it.
Mr. Gonzalez said Homeland Security sees the same dent in its mission when people aren’t there.
“It’s a double-whammy,” he said. “You’re giving them the time off, which means work gets delayed. At the same time, you’re creating a billion-dollar hole in your budget.”
The Office of Personnel Management, which oversees agencies’ policies, didn’t respond to an inquiry for this report. Neither did USCIS.
Homeland Security said Mr. Mayorkas’ generosity is a reflection of the employees.
“DHS employees, and the families who serve alongside them, are extraordinary public servants who make great sacrifices to advance our mission,” the department told The Times in a statement. “These unusually difficult jobs deserve our respect and offering administrative leave is a show of that respect that serves the public interest by contributing to employee morale.”
The department did not answer questions about the total number of work hours granted departmentwide or the costs of time not worked.
The time Mr. Mayorkas granted in 2023 included eight hours — a full workday — for the anniversary of the department’s creation and an extra eight hours for Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day, which are all paid days off. He also awarded 16 hours — two full workdays — for Thanksgiving, in addition to the holiday, and another two days for the December holiday season.
He is ahead of that pace this year, with an additional eight hours for Public Service Recognition Week.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.