Ernst, Miller-Meeks Expose Billion-Dollar Boondoggles
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate DOGE Caucus Chair Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is exposing more waste with her Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act that will require the disclosure of any government project that is $1 billion over budget or five years behind schedule.
“From moondoggles to off-the-rails projects, Washington can’t seem to ever make the trains run on time or on budget,” said Ernst. “Bureaucrats always find a way to pay a whole lot more for planes, trains, and automobiles—and just about everything else. I am slamming the brakes on boondoggles and bringing them to a squealing halt.”
Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) is introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
“Republicans were elected on a platform to tackle waste, fraud, and abuse,” said Miller-Meeks. “As Members of Congress, we are entrusted to be stewards of taxpayer dollars and government projects that are excessively costly and delayed must be held to account. Our bill will increase transparency - along with ongoing efforts by President Trump - to ensure we aren’t wasting billions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars.
Some of the biggest government boondoggles include:
- Building Air Force One replacements, which are currently billions-of-dollars over budget and years behind schedule.
- A California crazy train that is costing about $1.8 million a day, yet no tracks have even been laid. The project’s price tag has tripled from $33 billion in 2008, to as much as $128 billion today.
- $10 billion to purchase tens of thousands of Next Generation Delivery Vehicles for the U.S. Postal Service by 2028. While the initial order for 50,000 trucks was placed three years ago, fewer than 100 trucks have been delivered.
- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) return trip to the moon that is $6 billion over budget and years behind schedule as a result of mismanagement by NASA and “poor performance” by contractors.
- A Federal Reserve renovation that must have contractors laughing all the way to the bank. The cost of the project has increased 34% from $1.9 billion in 2019 to nearly $2.5 billion today.
Click here to view the bill text.
Background:
Billion-dollar boondoggles and the numerous costly California crazy trains were featured in Senator Ernst’s $2 trillion roadmap that was hand delivered to Elon Musk and President-elect Trump.
Ernst’s playbook has already racked up wins for taxpayers including forcing the sale of empty buildings, getting federal employees to return to work, consolidating costly software licenses, and much more.
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