The United States wasted approximately $900 billion in 2023 on a variety of programs that underscore the government’s incompetence and frivolous spending, US Senator Rand Paul said on Friday. “This year, I am highlighting a whopping ~$900,000,000,000 of waste… No matter how much money the government has already wasted, politicians keep demanding even more,” Paul said in his so-called Festivus Report, released annually.
US taxpayers are forced to pay the price for lawmakers spending money on favored industries and pet projects, Paul said.
A $2.7 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant was sub-granted to researchers in Russia, who studied cats’ ability to walk on treadmills, Paul said. Researchers in Mississippi also used NIH grant funds to test the impact of methamphetamine on monkeys’ sleep habits, Paul said.
Moreover, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases used $477,121 in taxpayer funds to study the susceptibility of forcibly feminized monkeys to HIV, Paul said.
However, the US government not only wasted taxpayer money on such frivolous studies, but also through incompetence, Paul said. COVID-19 relief funds were distributed to fraudsters who used pictures of Barbie dolls as proof of identity, Paul said.
The US also paid $38 million in COVID-19 relief funds to dead people, Paul said. The US government made a total of $236 billion in improper payments in 2023, Paul said.
“As always, taking the path to fiscal responsibility is often a lonely journey, but, as I’ve done in years past, I will continue my fight against government waste this holiday season,” Paul said.
The US national debt will continue to grow by an estimated $2 trillion a year for the next decade — more than $5 billion every day or $60,000 every second — Paul said.