Congress and federal agencies wasted more than $1 trillion in taxpayer money in 2024, according to an analysis released by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, who has long called for fiscal responsibility and an end to waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer money. .
He argues that wasting taxpayer money and uncontrolled spending has worsened the national debt, which has surpassed $36 trillion this year.
“Americans are paying $892 billion on Uncle Sam’s credit cards in fiscal year 2024,” he said, referring to interest on the national debt.
In Paul 2024 Festival Report“Members of both parties in Congress voted for massive spending bills filled with subsidies to underperforming industries, continued military aid to Ukraine, and controversial climate plans,” he said. As Congress spends to compensate for its favored pet projects, American taxpayers must pay through high prices and exorbitant interest rates.
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“Members of Congress continued to “send Americans’ hard-earned money abroad and fund endless wars while still ignoring our wide-open southern border,” he said.
The report’s main takeaway is that the federal government spends $10 billion “to maintain, lease and furnish almost entirely empty buildings” and more than $7 million on various “magic projects.”
The U.S. State Department appears to be the top agency wasting taxpayers’ money, Paul points out. Highlights include agency spending;
- nearly $5 million to influencers;
- $3 million for ‘girl-centered climate action’ in Brazil;
- $2.1 million for Paraguayan border security;
- Nearly $900,000 to the Royal Film Commission to produce films in Jordan;
- $500,000 to expand the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia’s “#USInvestsInEthiopians social media campaign into a larger national public relations campaign, Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”;
- $345,434 for counter-terrorism football activities;
- $330,000 to censor conservative media;
- More than $250,000 given to Bosnia to fight “misinformation”
- More than $123,000 to teach Kyrgyz youth how to spread the word;
- more than $108,000 for non-functioning hotels;
- Breakdancing $32,500+.
Other examples Paul cited of wasteful spending include the U.S. Department of the Interior spending $12 million on a pickleball complex in Las Vegas and more than $720,000 on a wetland preservation project for ducks in Mexico, according to the report.
Also notable in the report are the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ $2 million grant to study children who see Facebook ads for food, and a “Lonely and Hungry Mice Study” to determine whether lonely rats seek cocaine. It awarded nearly $420,000 to “depression research.” More than a happy mouse.
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The Department of Energy spent “$15.5 billion to entice Americans into choosing electric vehicles they don’t want.” The National Endowment for the Arts spent $365,000 to promote circuses in city parks, gave a $10,000 grant to the Bearded Ladies Cabaret to support an ice skating cabaret show focused on climate change, and , which has paid $385,000 to art exhibits on the High Line since 2015.
The U.S. Treasury provided $700 million in pandemic-era loans to failing trucking companies. The National Science Foundation spent nearly $290,000 “to ensure bird-watching groups have safe spaces.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture spent $20 million on the Fertilize Right Initiative to promote fertilizer use in Pakistan, Vietnam, Colombia, and Brazil.
The Agency for International Development spent $20 million on the new Sesame Street show “Ahlan Simsim” in Iraq. The report noted that the U.S. Navy would waste nearly $90 billion on inefficient naval vessels.
Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.
