In 1995, the House of Representatives passed a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) to the Constitution, but it failed in the Senate by a single vote. The budget deficit in fiscal year (FY) 1995 was $164 billion. It is now $38.7 trillion. On February 11, 2026, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its budget outlook for […]
Saving taxpayer money is often achieved with common sense ideas that are used throughout the private sector, like sharing resources and services that are suitable for multiple applications The Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) February 3, 2026, report described how federal shared services are being used and what can be done to improve their adoption. GAO […]
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA), which extended and enhanced the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, included other significant benefits to taxpayers, including the termination of a disastrous software program at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Citizens Against Government Waste raised the alarm for many years over the idea of allowing the IRS […]
Despite efforts to reduce the theft of copper wire, incidents continue across the country. On January 23, 2026, three men were arrested in Broward County, Florida for allegedly stealing “tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of copper wiring and tools.” These thefts have dire consequences for telecommunications networks and every business and consumer that relies […]
The Free State Foundation luncheon featuring National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Arielle Roth included some welcome news for businesses, families, and taxpayers. At the December 2, 2025, event at the National Press Club, which included comments and questions from former Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O’Rielly and Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) Vice President […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) continues to move forward with its robust agenda to modernize regulations and clear the path for faster deployment and innovation by eliminating obsolete rules and regulations. At its October 28, 2025, meeting the FCC considered revisions to the Broadband Labeling rule. This rule was included in Citizens Against Government Waste’s […]
Bridging the digital divide by connecting all unserved and underserved businesses and households that wish to have high-speed access to the internet is critically important to the economy and U.S. global leadership in telecommunications. Investment by the private sector in broadband has been a significant factor in getting closer to achieving this objective. USTelecom’s 2024 […]
Spectrum is critical to licensed and unlicensed communications; however, it is also a limited resource. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act requires the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) to locate 800 MHz of spectrum for auction and provided the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with spectrum auction authority until September 30, 2034. While this may seem […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) continues to forge ahead with eliminating outdated regulations and streamlining processes that will make it easier and faster to enable new telecommunications and network capabilities. The September 30, 2025, monthly meeting included several items that will help achieve those objectives, some of which were included in Citizens Against Government Waste’s […]
By Roslyn Layton, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Strand Consult and Deborah Collier, Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs, Citizens Against Government Waste The United States is currently operating under a fragmented system of privacy regulations because Congress has not yet enacted a national framework to regulate consumer data privacy and security. States have sought […]
