There are numerous U.S. laws intended to stifle the officials who cheated up millions of dollars in American taxpayer dollars. Those scaffolding are not being effectively enforced, if at all, according to Senate DOGE Caucus Chairwoman Joni Ernst.
In her most recent letter to the Office of Management and Budget Director, Russ Vought, Ernst wrote that rules have little effect on preventing the government’s agencies, organizations, and subagencies from wasting taxpayer money despite legislators ‘ attempts to update and strengthen reporting needs for taxpayer-funded projects. The letter serves as a follow-up to Vought’s pledge to “definitely abide by the law and make sure the spirit of the law is executed when well” following his assurance reading.
The Iowan concluded that” never a solitary company or department appears to be abiding by the law” after years of investigation.
I wrote that I authored a number of rules while serving in the Senate that did not have any effect. Appointed officials reportedly have a veto over any regulations they oppose.
In addition to improving the Water Resources Development Act of 2022 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Ernst helped to ensure that taxpayer-funded tasks accurately and consistently reported their expenditures. Instead of coming to a halt, high-speed road tasks like California’s are still costing Americans$ 1.8 million per day. Reports about various expensive projects that are indelayed, according to Ernst, are also years later.
” Neverever being approved as standard business practices, much less being subsided by blank checks from taxpayers,” “going millions or billions of dollars over budget and falling five years or more behind schedule. According to Ernst, the legislation is not optional to be followed.
The Department of Defense ( DOD ), which is required under the National Defense Authorization Act starting in 2021 but has not yet done so, is plagued by the same lack of urgency, according to the Republican.
” Failure to implement these legal requirements isn’t without repercussions. The Department of Government Efficiency’s ( DOGE )’s ) ability to identify wasteful spending is hampered by the lack of transparency, which also makes congressional oversight more difficult. It also makes it possible for biased press to spread false information that can only be refuted by the details, which are now being kept secret or suppressed by bureaucrats and state agencies, Ernst warned.
The Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education all failed to adhere to the transparency and accountability laws that mandated they properly disclose federal funding, according to a 2019 Government Accountability Office ( GAO ) report requested by Ernst.
Making it clear which company sponsored a task along with its cost by putting a common price tag on all taxpayer-funded tasks helps to eliminate uncertainty, Ernst wrote.
However, organizations like the United States Agency for International Development ( USAID ) use tricks like claiming exemptions for national security to conceal the hundreds of thousands of dollars being smuggled into fictitious pet projects.
The most recent USAID saving discovered by Ernst’s team included$ 24 000 for a “bakery show in China,”$ 121,000 for a breath for the U.S. ambassador in Ukraine,$ 124 000 for a vehicle wash in Pakistan, and$ 35 000 for a” traveling circus in California.”
Congress was forced to establish USAspending due to secret spending schemes that led to the government agency steered of tax dollars to speculative organizations, including the U.S. Agency for International Development ( USAID ). state a twenty-five centuries ago. Despite the requirement to publicly share where the money is going, USAID continued to withhold paying data from both the public and Congress,” Ernst continued, noting that legal expenses may arise for those who violate the law.
” I’m proposing legislative changes, but the real issue is that organizations don’t follow the law,” Ernst said. At your assurance reading before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I applaud your devotion to requiring companies to abide by these rules. I’m looking forward to the information I need to know about conformity.
” Citizens shouldn’t have to play a game of hide-and-seek to find out how their money is being spent,” says Ernst.
According to Ernst,” to prevent waste, we initially need to see it, and sunshine is the best disinfectant,” Ernst told The Federalist. Americans shouldn’t have to comb through hoops to discover how Washington spends, spends, and frequently misplaces their wealth, according to the article. We will eventually put a stop to the rodeo that has cost our country$ 36 trillion in debt by shining a light on every penny spent by the government.
The Federalist team author and host of The Federalist Radio Hour, Jordan Boyd. Her function has also been published in RealClearPolitics, Fox News, and The Daily Wire. Jordan graduated from Baylor University with a political science major and a news minor. Observe her on X @jordanboydtx.
