This Week In Waste – March 20, 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.
House of Representatives Fails to Pass the Balanced Budget Amendment
On March 18, 2026, the House of Representatives failed to pass H.J. Res. 139, a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget for the federal government. The vote was 211-207, but the resolution failed to achieve the two-thirds majority required for its passage. The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste supported the amendment, since it would rein in federal spending and encourage fiscal responsibility. Read more here.
The Only Good MFN Is No MFN
Most Favored Nation (MFN) would import prices for pharmaceuticals from other countries, many of which rely on socialized medicine and government-run healthcare. Suggesting that free market principles and price caps are compatible with MFN is nonsensical, since the federal government would be setting U.S. prices based on artificially low prices from other countries that free-ride off of U.S. biopharmaceutical research. MFN will do nothing to stop foreign freeriding and undermine America’s biopharmaceutical global leadership. Read more here.
You Are What Big Government Tells You to Eat
States continue to request waivers to disqualify certain products from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). These arbitrary restrictions impose unnecessary compliance burdens on both SNAP users and retailers, and limit consumer choice without saving taxpayers a cent. Read more here.
Death Now Costs Less
The Working Families Tax Cuts law raised and made permanent the federal estate tax exemption to $15 million for individuals and $30 million for couples, avoiding a scheduled 50 percent cut in the threshold if the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act had not been extended and expanded in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is trying to move Big Apple taxpayers far in the other direction by proposing a 90 percent cut in the state estate tax threshold from $7 million to $750,000 and increasing the top rate from 16 percent to 50 percent, pushing the burdensome estate tax on millions of middle-class New Yorkers. Read more here.
U.S. Needs to Take the Lead at World Radio Conference
A March 18, 2026, House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing spotlighted the need for the U.S. to better prepare for the upcoming World Radio Conference, scheduled for October 12-November 18, 2027, in Shanghai, China. The conference will consider issues related to satellites, spectrum, science, and other general issues, The U.S. must prepare now to fight off challenges, especially from China, to remain the leader in global communications. Read more here.
White House Establishes Task Force to Combat Fraud
During his State of the Union address, President Donald J. Trump announced a task force on fraud that would be led by Vice President JD Vance. On March 16, 2026, he issued an executive order to formally establish a Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. The task force will “coordinate and accelerate a comprehensive national strategy to stop fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs, including programs administered jointly with State, local, tribal, and territorial partners.” Federal agencies will be required to improve internal controls and fraud-prevention measures. Read more here.
Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) Holds Hearing on Federal Spending Oversight Tools
A March 18, 2026, Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing titled Sunshine Week: Bringing Secret Government Spending to Light, exposed not only absurd projects but also hidden spending of $77,5 billion revealed by the Government Accountability Office in “Other Transaction Agreements” between fiscal years 2021-2025. CAGW provided a statement for the record to the committee highlighting persistent issues with USASpending.gov and other transaction tracking tools. Read more here.
Office of the New York State Comptroller Raises Questions About Homeless Services Spending
A March 11, 2026, Office of the New York State Comptroller report revealed that in fiscal year (FY) 2025, New York City spent $368 million, or $81,705 per person, for the homeless in the city. The total costs more than tripled from $102 million in FY 2019, while the unsheltered population increased by only 26 percent. This discrepancy raises concerns about effectiveness and oversight of New York City’s policies regarding its unsheltered population. Read more here.
