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...

EPA Fails at a Simple Cost-Benefit Analysis

By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal Times

When the Environmental Protection Agency proposes regulations, it doesn’t always do a good job of analyzing the costs and benefits of its proposals—making it more difficult for policymakers to assess...
Obama’s $11 Billion High Speed Rail to Nowhere

By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal Times

The Obama administration has spent almost $11 billion to build a high-speed rail system that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Since 2009, the president has been pushing for the United States to...
Gov’t Auditor Gets $400K While Under Investigation for Two Years

By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal Times

The chief watchdog at the National Archives announced his retirement last night – conveniently just ahead of a scathing report out today that shows he created a toxic work environment involving...
Obama Wasn’t Always So Tough on Corporate Tax Inversions

By Yuval Rosenberg

A 2009 deal to reorganize Delphi Automotive as part of the auto bailouts allowed the company to move its headquarters to the U.K.
Government Spending Website Is Off by $619 Billion

By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal Times

The government’s attempt at making federal spending more transparent is failing miserably. USASpending.gov - launched in 2007 - is the first website of its kind that allows the public to see...

Search form