WASHINGTON — Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is demanding a federal watchdog audit how many government workers are accepting “fraudulent unemployment benefits” while still collecting paychecks after discovering a handful of “rip-off artists” bilked taxpayers out of nearly half a million dollars.

In a Thursday letter to Labor Department Acting Deputy Inspector General Michael C. Mikulka, obtained by The Post, Ernst tallied up more than $405,000 taken in by just five federal employees “double-dipping” on the taxpayer dole.

One worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Health Administration and the IRS took more than $130,000 in unemployment benefits over six years on the job — and was even promoted several times. 5

One US Postal Service employee nabbed more than $109,000 in unempl

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