Senate Passes Ernst’s Ban on Bogus Bonuses and Billion Dollar Boondoggles

WASHINGTON – This week, the U.S. Senate passed two of Senator Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) measures to hold Washington bureaucrats accountable to Iowa taxpayers. The first measure exposes taxpayer-funded projects that are billions of dollars over budget and over five years behind schedule, known as boondoggles, and the second bans federal agencies from paying bonuses to government contractors for federal projects that don’t meet outcome standards.

"If projects are billions over budget and years behind schedule, the taxpayers should know about it. And if the federal contractors working on these boondoggles are incomplete or poorly done, then they sure as heck shouldn’t be awarded a bonus,” said Senator Joni Ernst. “These measures are commonsense and straightforward, and now they are both one step closer to becoming law. I’m glad to finally see my Senate colleagues join me in my effort to curb wasteful spending and hold Washington bureaucrats accountable.”

These two measures mirror Senator Ernst’s Bogus Bonus Ban Act and her Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act that she put forward earlier this year, and were included in an appropriations package that passed the Senate with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 84-9. These specific measures apply to agencies funded under the Interior and Environment division, and are part of Ernst’s efforts to cut wasteful spending and make Washington squeal.

To read these two measures in full, click here and here.

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