Government Waste

Why the Price of the F-35 Keeps Soaring

By Ciro Scotti

The most costly fighter ever built is getting even more expensive. A new General Accounting Office report says the Pentagon will spend an additional $3.9 billion over the next five years on “...
What a Waste—Senate Health Care Debate Squanders Time and Millions for Nothing

By Rob Garver and Eric Pianin

For Republican leaders in the Senate, watching their first two attempts to pass a health care bill this week fail badly in floor votes must have been extra painful as they plainly knew in advance...
The Pentagon Skips Out on a $10 Billion Debt

By Eric Pianin

By law, the free-spending Defense Department is required to implement a plan to achieve at least $10 billion in administrative cost savings within the next two years. But the Government...
Can Congress Finally Stop Wasting $100 Billion a Year in Erroneous Payments?

By Eric Pianin

In response to repeated prodding by the General Accounting Office and other government watchdogs, the House Budget Committee is calling for creation of a special commission to crack down on...
Homeland Security Did Not Report $3.5 Million Spent on Conferences

By Eric Pianin

The behemoth Department of Homeland Security violated federal rules when they neglected to report nearly two dozen conferences sponsored by the agency in 2014 and 2015 at an overall cost of more than...

The Latest FBI Mess: The $2 Billion Project to Build Its New Headquarters

By Eric Pianin

The FBI’s once imposing fortress-like headquarters in downtown Washington is in shambles today, with netting hanging from the façade to prevent broken concrete from hitting passing tourists. Inside,...
The Navy’s Argument for Building Another $500 Million Combat Ship Doesn’t Hold Water

By Ciro Scotti

Under pressure from the White House, the Navy agreed to add a second Littoral Combat Ship to its 2018 budget despite grave concerns about the capabilities of the vessel. The stated reason was to save...
How a No-Show Worker Scammed the VA Out of $100,000

By Eric Pianin

A former research investigator at a VA health facility in Oklahoma City scammed the government out of more than $100,000 by claiming thousands of hours of work while he was drawing a salary at a...
Ouch! Mylan May Have Overcharged the US More Than $1 Billion for EpiPens

By Rob Garver

The federal government appears to have shelled out more than $1.27 billion in overpayments to the drug company Mylan, which holds the patent on the widely-used EpiPen, an auto-injector for...
How Bad Is Drug Theft at VA Hospitals? Feds Pursue Dozens of New Cases

By Eric Pianin

In the last few months, the VA inspector general’s office opened 36 criminal investigations into alleged drug theft by employees at veterans hospitals, bringing the number of open criminal...

Feds Blow $100 Billion Annually on Incorrect Payments

By Rob Garver

Major government programs have double-digit error rates in their payment systems, costing the taxpayer more than $100 billion dollars each year. In 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services...
10 States That Cheat the Most on Jobless Benefits

By Rob Garver

The rate of fraud in the Federal Unemployment Insurance program varies widely between states, but the top 10 cost taxpayers more than half a billion dollars last year.
Congress Likely to Pass $1 Trillion Spending Bill Without Reading It

By Eric Pianin

After a year of pent up federal spending decisions, we're about to witness a deluge of nearly $2 trillion of budget actions in a matter of weeks, including an omnibus spending bill to keep the...
Here’s the Giant Shoe About to Drop on the Economy

By Rob Garver

Assuming economic conditions continue to improve, incoming Federal Reserve Board Chair Jane Yellen will, sooner or later, preside over substantial increases in interest rates – and when she does, the...
Jobless Extension Survives Critical Senate Test

By Eric Pianin

The battle over extending unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed was formally joined on Tuesday, when the Senate narrowly broke a GOP filibuster and moved ahead with legislation to...

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