This Week In Waste – April 3, 2026
Welcome to This Week in Waste, a series by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) that highlights how taxpayer dollars are being wasted in the federal, state, and local levels of government and efforts to fight back against this spendthrift behavior.
No More Taxes on Tips
Tipped employees are experiencing an increase in savings thanks to President Donald Trump keeping his promise to eliminate taxes on tips when he signed into law the Working Families Tax Cuts package. The new deduction for income derived from tips will save each of the six million taxpayers in the customer service industry an average of $1,300 annually between 2025 and 2028. Read more here.
BEAD Renders USDA Broadband Programs Obsolete
After the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program’s $42.5 billion in original funding was reduced to requests from states and territories to $20.15 billion, it is a good time to eliminate some of the government’s duplicative broadband programs. The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) within the Department of Agriculture spends more than $100 million each year on unnecessary broadband programs, and they should be eliminated. Read more here.
General Services Administration (GSA) Sells Underutilized Property in Washington, D.C.
In a victory for taxpayers, GSA sold a long-vacant 940,000-square-foot Regional Office Building, located in the southwest area of the District of Columbia. This sale ends years of taxpayers footing the bill for unused space and is expected to save more than $200 million in delinquent maintenance and $5.5 million annually for operating and maintenance costs. Read more here.
President Trump Announces Moving U.S. Forestry Service to Utah
As part of his overhaul of the federal government, President Donald Trump announced on March 31, 2026, that the U.S. Forest Service headquarters would be moving out of Washington, D.C. to Salt Lake City, Utah. This commonsense move will bring Forest Service employees closer to where nearly 90 percent of National Forest System lands are located. Read more here.
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) Plans to Spend $19 Million on California’s Public Relations Campaign
Gov. Newsom’s office is planning a $19 million taxpayer-funded marketing campaign to promote the state’s economic image and dispel the “myths” about the state’s underperformance, even as it faces a $3 billion deficit. These funds could be better spent on core services, deficit repayment, or returned to taxpayers rather than a public relations campaign aimed at bolstering Gov. Newsom’s presidential ambitions. Read more here.
Research Shows 340B Growth Is Driven by Dominant Teaching Hospital Systems
The 340B drug discount program was intended to provide discounts on prescription drugs to low-income Americans but has been abused by providers for many years to inflate their profits. A March 2026 Health Capital Group white paper found that large teaching hospitals drive the growth of 340B and receive the bulk of benefits from the program. Read more here.
Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson (D) Signs New Income Tax Bill
Gov. Ferguson signed a new income tax of 9.9 percent targeting households earning more than $1 million annually. It is projected to raise $3 billion annually from 21,000 filers. The new tax will fail to raise the estimated revenue since it will drive wealthy residents and entrepreneurs out of the state. The tax is already facing legal challenges, since progressive income taxes are unconstitutional in Washington. Read more here.
