Federal Spending

Congress continues borrowing billions for programs that duplicate state efforts and serve connected contractors. Real fiscal responsibility means freezing discretionary spending, auditing every agency, and returning power to states and taxpayers.

A fresh Government Accountability Office report documents billions in redundant federal programs. Congress responds with press releases instead of rescissions. Until lawmakers use the report to cut spending, the document is just more expensive wallpaper in the swamp.

Federal spending is not a shortage of revenue problem. It is an honesty problem, built on duplicate programs, failed audits, and billions in improper payments that lawmakers refuse to fix.

Washington spends more than $6.7 trillion each year while borrowing nearly one-fifth of every dollar it outlays, and the result is a bureaucracy that rewards failure and punishes thrift. Real fiscal discipline means eliminating whole agencies, not trimming line items.

The CR Congress passed in May cost $1.9 trillion when you count the supplementals. Half of it does not appear in the topline. Here are the receipts.

A forthcoming GAO audit has identified about $4.2 billion in overlapping federal IT contracts across 14 agencies, with a public release scheduled for May 6 and an OMB freeze directive expected by May 8, according to three sources familiar with the report.

An audit comparison between VA administrative overhead per claim and the financial cost to the average veteran of a delayed claim produces a ratio the agency would prefer not to discuss in public.

The GOP wants to extend tax cuts, fund the border, and increase defense spending, all in one bill. Someone has to find the money. Nobody can agree on where.