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...

How to Stop the Government From Overspending Billions on Charge Cards

By Eric Katz, Government Executive

Federal agencies are potentially overspending billions of dollars each year by allowing employees to make small purchases on government charge cards instead of using the government's buying power to...
Doctors and Nurses Charged in Massive $900 Million Medicare Fraud

By Eric Pianin

In some cases, doctors took part in schemes to submit claims to Medicare and Medicaid for treatments that were not necessary and were never provided. In others, health care providers offered...
Who Do You Trust? Confidence in US Institutions Scrapes Bottom

By Eric Pianin

A decade of financial crisis and political strife has seriously eroded Americans’ confidence in major institutions, especially the banking industry, the government and the news media, according to a...
The Federal Government Says 99% of Its Workers Are Doing a Great Job

By Suman Bhattacharyya

Just how good are government workers at their jobs? The answer depends on who you ask. Despite all those reports you’ve read of government incompetence, mismanagement or worse, just about all working...
Air Force May Penalize Boeing for Delays on Air Force’s New KC-46 Tanker

By Martin Matishak

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter isn’t the only major U.S. Air Force program that’s been snake bit with technical delays.

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