President Donald Trump just dropped a bombshell by sacking five members of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico (FOMBPR) in a bold move that’s got everyone talking.
This Friday shake-up, exclusively reported by Breitbart News, saw Chairman Arthur J. Gonzalez, Cameron McKenzie, Betty Rosa, Juan Sabater, and Luis Ubiñas shown the door, while Andrew Biggs and John Nixon remain on the board.
Let’s rewind to 2016, when Puerto Rico declared bankruptcy and the Obama administration, under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act, set up the FOMBPR to steer the island’s financial ship.
Seven original members, including Gonzalez and Biggs, were appointed back then to tackle the island’s economic woes, but critics have long argued the board’s been more of a burden than a blessing.
Fast forward to Friday, and Trump’s decision to trim the fat seems to echo a growing frustration with the board’s track record, as a White House official didn’t mince words about the need for change.
“The Financial Oversight and Management Board of Puerto Rico has been run inefficiently and ineffectively by its governing members for far too long, and it’s time to restore common sense leadership,” the official declared. Well, if that’s not a polite way to say “you’re fired,” then what is?
Now, let’s talk numbers—FOMBPR staff salaries average a staggering 1,065 percent more than Puerto Rico’s median household income of just $20,078 a year.
That’s right, while families scrape by, board employees are banking an average of $214,000 annually, based on a $3 million salary budget for 14 staffers reported by The Daily Caller in 2017.
And get this: Executive Director Robert F. Mujica Jr., once budget director under former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is pulling in a cool $625,000 a year—nearly triple his old salary of about $216,000. If that doesn’t scream “out of touch,” it’s hard to know what does.
Meanwhile, the board’s spending habits could make even a Wall Street tycoon blush, with over a million bucks a month shelled out to McKinsey for “strategic consulting” in 2017, per The New Yorker. Add in millions more for catering and overpriced photocopying, and you’ve got a recipe for public outrage.
“For much of 2017, more than a million dollars a month went to McKinsey for ‘strategic consulting,’” wrote Sheelah Kolhatkar in The New Yorker. If that’s strategy, one wonders what failure looks like.
Kolhatkar didn’t stop there, noting, “The old investing maxim ‘Where there is pain, there is profit’ seems to hold especially true here.” It’s a bitter pill to swallow when the island’s 3.5 million Americans are struggling while consultants feast at the trough.
Back in the Obama days, a press release touted the board’s mission: “The Board is tasked with working with the people and Government of Puerto Rico to create the needed foundation for economic growth and to restore opportunity.”
Noble words, but after years of questionable spending and stagnant progress, it’s no wonder Trump’s team felt a shake-up was overdue.
Let’s be clear: Puerto Rico deserves better than a board that seems more focused on hefty paychecks than real solutions.
The island’s people have endured enough hardship without watching their overseers live large on the taxpayers' dime. Trump’s decision to axe five members might just be the wake-up call this board needs to prioritize efficiency over excess.
While some will cry foul over the firings, it’s hard to argue against a push for accountability when the numbers tell such a damning story.