The Trump administration spent more than $52,000 (£40,000) last year on mechanized curtains for the residence of Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN.
The purchase, which a spokesperson for Ms Haley said was approved by the Obama administration, included a $29,900 (£23,000) set of curtains and $22,800 (£17,000) in hardware to open and close them automatically, according to government contracts.
The total – $52,700 (£40,000) – was almost as much as the government pays for Ms Haley’s $58,000-a-month (£44,000) apartment on Manhattan’s First Avenue, according to the New York Times.
An Obama-era official defended the purchase, telling the Times it was necessary for security and entertaining purposes.
“All she’s got is a part-time maid, and the ability to open and close the curtains quickly is important,” said Patrick Kennedy, the top management official at the State Department under President Barack Obama.
The US mission to the UN did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment.
The purchase occurred in March of last year, at the same time the White House announced a proposal to slash State Department’s budget by approximately 30 per cent, with deep cuts to foreign aid and climate-change initiatives. The plan was eventually overruled by Congress.
The department was also in the midst of a hiring freeze, which left dozens of top positions unfilled. The next month, then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson floated a plan to cut 2,300 jobs from the department – a proposal that Congress also nixed.
American Foreign Service Association President Barbara Stephenson wrote later that year that the department’s leadership was “being depleted at a dizzying speed.”
“The rapid loss of so many senior officers has a serious, immediate, and tangible effect on the capacity of the United States to shape world events,” the ambassador added.
The State Department is not the only area of the Trump administration to face scrutiny for its spending. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned last September amid outcry over his liberal use of taxpayer-funded private flights.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson sparked backlash after his office ordered him a $31,000 (£24,000) dining table set, and the treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, faced scrutiny after ordering a government jet to take him on his honeymoon.
“Nikki Haley is one more example – following Scott Pruitt, Ben Carson, Tom Price & Steve Mnuchin – of Trump appointees ripping off taxpayers to indulge themselves,” Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of Mr Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal, said on Twitter.
He added: “Haley’s $52,000 on curtains is the average annual salary in the US.”
