Ernst To OMB: Enforce Taxpayer Waste Laws

There are numerous U.S. laws that aim to rein in the bureaucrats who blew millions of Americans’ hard-earned money. According to Senate DOGE Caucus Chairwoman Joni Ernst, those guardrails are not being enforced properly — if at all.

In her latest letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, Ernst wrote that despite legislators’ attempts to renew and expand reporting requirements for taxpayer-funded projects, regulations have done little to prevent government departments, agencies, and subagencies from wasting tax dollars. The letter serves as a follow-up on Vought’s confirmation hearing commitment to “definitely abide by the law and make sure the spirit of the law is executed as well.”

After years of investigation, the Iowan determined that “not a single agency or department appears to be abiding by the law.”

“During my time in the Senate, I authored a number of laws intended to do just that, none of which have been implemented,” Ernst wrote. “Apparently, unelected bureaucrats have granted themselves a veto over any laws they don’t like.”

Ernst played a role in beefing up the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Water Resources Development Act of 2022 to ensure that taxpayer-funded projects not only reported their spending but did so efficiently. Instead, projects like California’s high-speed rail project are still at an effective standstill while costing Americans $1.8 million a day. Reports about other expensive projects that are behind, Ernst said, are also years late.

“Going millions or billions of dollars over budget and falling five years or more behind schedule should never be accepted as standard business practices, much less subsidized with blank checks from taxpayers. Likewise, compliance with the law is not optional,” Ernst wrote.

The Republican said the same lack of urgency plagues the Department of Defense (DOD), which is required under the National Defense Authorization Act starting in 2021 to publicly disclose taxpayer costs but has yet to do so.

“Failure to enact these legal requirements isn’t without consequences. The lack of transparency is impairing the ability of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to identify wasteful spending and complicating congressional oversight. It also allows biased media to spread disinformation, which can only be countered with the facts, currently being hidden or suppressed by government agencies and bureaucrats,” Ernst warned.

A 2019 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report requested by Ernst confirmed that the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education all failed to comply with transparency and accountability laws mandating they disclose federal funding properly.

“Putting a public price tag on all taxpayer-funded projects eliminates confusion by making it clear which agency sponsored a project along with its cost,” Ernst wrote.

Yet agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) use workarounds such as claiming national security exemptions to disguise secret slush funds funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to literal pet projects.

The latest round of USAID spending discovered by Ernst’s staff included $24,000 to a “bakery roadshow in China,” a $121,000 breathalyzer “for the U.S. embassy in Ukraine,” $124,000 for a car wash in Pakistan, and $35,000 for a “traveling circus in California.”

“Secret spending schemes in which tax dollars were being steered to sketchy organizations by government agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), compelled Congress to establish USAspending.gov twenty years ago. Despite this requirement to publicly disclose where the money is going, USAID continued withholding spending information from both the public and Congress,” Ernst continued, noting that criminal charges could loom for USAID violators.

“I am proposing legislative fixes, but the real problem is agencies refuse to respect the law,” Ernst concluded. “I appreciate your commitment at your confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to make agencies adhere to these laws. I am following up to learn when and what guidance will be issued to ensure compliance.”

According to Ernst, “Taxpayers shouldn’t have to play a game of hide-and-seek to find out how their money is being spent.”

“To stop waste, we first need to see it, and sunlight is the best disinfectant,” Ernst told The Federalist. “Americans should not have to jump through hoops to figure out how Washington is spending, and often misspending, their money. By shining a light on every dollar spent by government, we will finally put a stop to the circus that has put our nation $36 trillion in debt.” 

Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.