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...

Another New Navy Combat Ship Breaks Down

By Rob Garver

Just a month after the Government Accountability Office released a damning report that found the Navy’s new class of littoral combat ship is “both less survivable in its expected threat environments...
As the Military Cries Poor, It Wastes Billions in Afghanistan

By Megan McCloskey, ProPublica

Is it true that rare Italian goats were airlifted to Afghanistan? Did Defense Department employees go to carpet tradeshows in Europe? How about on jewelry-related trips to India? These might seem...
CBO Warns Congressional Spending Is Driving Up the Deficit

By Eric Pianin

After years of steady decline as the economy improved, the federal budget deficit this year will increase in relationship to the overall size of the economy for the first time since 2009 and continue...
Why Is the Government Spending $310 Billion on ‘Unauthorized’ Programs?

By Martin Matishak

The federal government is on pace to spend around $310 billion in 2016 on programs that have expired, according to a new analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The 166-page...
How Millions of Taxpayer Dollars Were Wasted on Afghan Mining Projects

By Martin Matishak

The Defense Department task force meant to encourage economic redevelopment in U.S. war zones helped spend up to $488 million trying to develop Afghanistan’s oil, gas and mineral industries with...

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