For Immediate Release
Contact: Curtis Kalin 202-467-5318

November 28, 2017
 

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) praised Sen. James Lankford’s (R-Okla.) third annual government waste report, “Federal Fumbles: 100 Ways the Government Dropped the Ball,” which reveals $473.6 billion in wasteful spending.

Federal Fumbles highlights several items and solutions that CAGW has brought to light in Prime Cuts and the Congressional Pig Book, such as reducing the massive $144 billion in government-wide improper payments; eliminating the duplicative Appalachian Regional Commission; ending the Essential Air Service’s subsidy of empty flights to tiny airports; terminating absurd spending by the National Endowment for the Humanities and Sciences; halting food stamp fraud; exposing taxpayer-subsidized public relations for government agencies; acting on the dozens of Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendations on its High Risk List; updating and consolidating the information technology (IT) systems at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); ensuring that the Department of Defense (DOD) maintains an complete and accurate list of its IT systems; and stopping the IRS from hiring back workers who were previously fired for “conduct or performances issues.”

CAGW President Tom Schatz said, “With the national debt at $20.6 trillion, it is clear that wasteful government spending must be sacked.  Sen. Lankford’s third edition of Federal Fumbles has successfully built on the legacy of his predecessor, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who worked tirelessly to expose Washington’s reckless spending habits.  Sen. Lankford should be cheered for taking the handoff from Sen. Coburn and continuing to move the ball down the field so that taxpayers can score a few touchdowns in the fight to tackle wasteful federal spending.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. 

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