This Week in Waste – July 18, 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.
Top 10 Taxpayer Victories in the One Big Beautiful Bill
The One Big Beautiful Bill (Public Law No. 119-21) is a major step toward cutting wasteful government spending and lowering taxes. It makes the 2017 tax cuts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, eliminates unnecessary federal programs, and reforms Medicaid and student loans to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse. These changes will help save taxpayer money and limit the size of the federal government. Read more here.
Congress passes Trump’s First Set of Rescissions
On July 18, 2025, Congress passed the final version of H.R. 4, President Trump’s rescissions package. The package saves $9 billion by cutting unnecessary funds for foreign aid, the Public Broadcasting Service, and National Public Radio. Many of these cuts were recommended in CAGW’s 2024 Prime Cuts report. The passage of the first rescissions package should lead to more spending cuts, and Congress should adopt more of CAGW’s commonsense recommendations. Read more here.
Ignoring Reagan, Embracing Waste
President Trump’s plan to move the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to the Reagan International Trade Center building would cost $555 million compared to between $3-$4.5 billion for a new headquarters in Maryland. But the Senate Appropriations Committee refused to support the less expensive alternative in favor of the Maryland plan pushed by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). With tens of billions already needed for federal building repairs, continuing to fund wasteful projects like building a new FBI facility undermines efforts to cut government waste and reduce unused federal property. Read more here.
Biden push for $10B electric mail delivery fleet flops with just 250 trucks built in two years
The Biden administration’s $10 billion plan to electrify the U.S. Postal Service fleet has resulted in the purchase of just 250 electric vehicles out of the budgeted 35,000 after more than two years and $1.7 billion in spending. Efforts are now underway to cancel the remaining $1.3 billion allocated through the Inflation Reduction Act due to rising costs and limited progress. CAGW’s June 8, 2016, blog post warned against the purchase of electric trucks for the USPS. Read more here.
Trump administration pulls plug on $4B for California’s “train to nowhere” project
The Federal Railroad Administration terminated $4 billion in unspent federal funding allocated for the California High-Speed Rail project following 16 years of delays, mismanagement, and rising costs. CAGW first exposed the overspending and likely failure of the project in 2008, as well as in April 17, 2025, and July 2, 2025, blog posts that called out the project’s waste and inefficiency. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s decision is a move in the right direction to eliminate wasteful spending and ensure the responsible use of taxpayer dollars. Read more here.
