This Week In Waste – December 12, 2025
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.
Pentagon’s Pivot to Nontraditional Contractors
The Department of Defense is adopting commonsense reforms, many of which have been promoted by CAGW, to increase competition and incorporate private sector companies that do have a history of working with the Pentagon into its procurement strategy. Read more here.
Government Accountability Office (GAO) Reveals Rampant Obamacare Subsidy Fraud
The GAO’s December 3, 2025, report revealed that all fake applicants the GAO used to apply for Obamacare subsidies were approved, and $94 million in tax credits went to insurers on behalf of deceased individuals, with 58,000 dead Social Security numbers still tied to Advance Premium Tax Credit (APTC) payments. Lack of Obamacare oversight may have already resulted in as much as $27 billion in improper payments. Read more here.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Closes 2,048 Inactive Proceedings
The FCC’s move underscores the agency’s commitment to efficiency and regulatory reform, part of its broader “Delete, Delete, Delete” agenda aimed at eliminating outdated rules and unnecessary red tape, which CAGW supports. Continuing this welcome review and elimination of unnecessary rules and regulations reduces waste and provides clearer regulatory certainty. Read more here.
Senate Conservatives Rip “Gateway Drug” Earmarks in Government Funding Bills
In a fiscally responsible move, several Senate Republicans are blocking a five-bill minibus appropriations package over “hundreds of earmarks,” including $1 million for renovating New York City’s Metropolitan Opera elevators and $1 million for California’s high-speed rail boondoggle. Instead of prioritizing taxpayers, these handouts fuel wasteful spending and fund politically favored projects, exacerbating the $38.4 trillion national debt. Read more here.
