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...

The Gloves Are Off (Already) at Budget Conference

By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal Times

It didn’t take long Wednesday for rosy talk about bipartisanship and “common ground” to give way to bare-knuckled haggling over a new budget as the first House-Senate budget conference committee in...
Obama and Sebelius: "The Dog Ate My Homework"

By Edward Morrissey

When I first started reading comic strips more than 40 years ago, one of the most popular was Bil Keane’s Family Circus , a lighthearted look at childhood and family dynamics. One running gag had to...
IRS Contractors Owe $5.4 Million in Back Taxes

By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal Times

Nearly 700 IRS contract workers owe more than $5.4 million in back taxes, according to a new report from an agency watchdog. More than half of those employees aren’t even on a repayment plan —...
Want a Job? Get Ready for the Phone Interview

By Judith A. Stock, LearnVest

As a stellar would-be employee, you want to sail through the interview process. But before you think that all you need is a knockout résumé and a killer outfit, think again. Nowadays, there’s a step...
How Congress Became an Incompetent Bureaucracy

By Bruce Bartlett, The Fiscal Times

In recent years, ideology, especially right-wing ideology, has been the dominant factor in congressional elections. But historically this has not been the case. Voters mostly looked for simple...

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