US trade rep spent nearly $1M to furnish offices

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer spent nearly $1 million to furnish two trade offices, according to a Tuesday report from the New York Post.

In a statement to the Post, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the $917,000 in furniture purchases were part of a plan devised under the Obama administration in order to replace aging pieces.

"The furniture purchases are the culmination of a longtime, planned project that began under the Obama Administration to replace two-decade-old furniture,” Lighthizer’s office said in a statement to the Post.
That plan, Lighthizer's office said, has been underway since 2014.

Former Obama administration officials told the Post, however, that they never signed off on the plan to remodel the offices, with one former aide telling the news outlet that such a claim is "laughable."

Among the purchases made, according to the Post, were 60 sit-stand desks for $18,500; moveable wooden wall systems that came in around $290,000; and 90 office chairs that cost $54,000.


http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/383578-us-trade-rep-spent-nearly-1-million-to-furnish-offices-report