This Week in Waste – June 20, 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.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) Works to Codify Trump Effort to Eliminate Improper Payments
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) introduced the Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Spending Act, which would increase Department of the Treasury oversight of agency expenditures. The legislation, which will help identify and eliminate government waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement, is supported by the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW). Read more here.
A blueprint for the new postmaster general
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) President Tom Schatz’s June 16, 2025, op-ed in The Hill encourages the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to follow its universal service obligation, delivering mail and packages across America, and increase its work with the private sector for the processing, logistics, and transportation of mail and packages closer to their final destinations. Schatz also called for the new Postmaster General to immediately stop implementing USPS’s wasteful and inefficient Delivering for America plan. Read more here.
Trying to Save the SLS Misadventure
The Space Launch System has been over budget and behind schedule for years. Now, the Trump administration is proposing to end the program after two more launches. Congress should follow the administration’s lead, and NASA should look to commercial companies for a more cost-effective alternative. A 2022 CAGW report made the case for NASA’s increased reliance on the private sector. Read more here.
Congress Should Modernize How Prescription Information is Delivered
Regulations dating back to 1962 require that drug manufacturers transmit prescribing information to pharmacists and healthcare workers on paper. Each printed copy of the prescribing information averages around 30 to 45 pages long, and by the time it is sent the information is outdated and obsolete. The law must be modernized, allowing the information to be sent electronically. Read more here.
Trying to Save the Wrong Kind of Green
Clean energy loans, grants, tax credits, and other subsidies have become a breeding ground for government waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. They also harm the economy and the environment by picking winners and losers in the energy sector for the sake of political agendas. The House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would properly phase out programs tied to such preferential policies. Read more here.
The 340B Drug Pricing Program is Overdue for Reform
The 340B Program provides discounted drugs to non-profit hospitals and clinics but fails to define patients and does not require savings to be passed on to them, so the money is being used to inflate profits for hospitals and pharmacies. It grew from $2.4 billion in 2005 to $66.3 billion in 2023. The program needs to be reformed by increasing transparency, including a clear definition of a 340B eligible patient, improving verification of patient eligibility, ensuring there is a relationship between the patient and the covered entity, and verifying that services were provided within the past 12 months. Read more here.
