This Week In Waste – November 14, 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.
President Trump Signs Spending Bill, Ending Government Shutdown
President Trump signed H.R. 5371, a short-term spending bill, to end the 43-day government shutdown, reopening services and ensuring federal employees are paid and federal assistance programs are funded. The legislation includes three of the twelve fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills and extends government funding for the nine remaining bills until January 30, 2026, as well as a December vote in the Senate on extending certain Affordable Care Act subsidies. The three appropriations bills are Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies; Legislative Branch; and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies. Read more here.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Closes Down Direct File
The IRS has finally shut down its Direct File pilot project that cost $41 million while being used by fewer than 0.5 percent of filers, a long-sought victory for taxpayers. The pilot placed the IRS in the position of being preparer, auditor, and enforcer over taxpayers, leaving them at risk of being forced to question decisions made by the agency. Direct File demonstrated why government-run programs cannot match the effectiveness of private sector options. Read more here.
U.S. Mint Ends Production of Pennies
Ending penny production is a long-overdue commonsense victory for taxpayers with each 1-cent coin costing taxpayers 3.69 cents to make. Eliminating this outdated coin saves $56 million a year and allows the government to stop spending money to lose money. Efforts to modernize currency should continue, including discontinuing or changing the metals to produce nickels, which currently cost 13.8 cents per coin, and replacing $1 notes with dollar coins. Read more here.
New York Doubles Down on Broadband Overbuilding
New York State’s Municipal Infrastructure Program (MIP) has spent more than $210 million building broadband networks, but 89 percent of the locations covered by these networks already had service. This overbuilding diverts resources from tens of thousands of New Yorkers without broadband, which delays and increases costs to close the digital divide. Read more here.
Pentagon Announces New Acquisition Strategy to Prioritize Nontraditional Contractors
In his November 7, 2025, speech, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced reforms to the procurement process at the Department of Defense, which aims to increase competition by giving nontraditional contractors and startups greater opportunities, encouraging industry investment in research and development, and enabling faster delivery of emerging technologies to warfighters. Read more here.
Four Cities Want to Withdraw from Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) System
Plano, Irving, Farmers Branch, and Highland Park, Texas, scheduled referenda in May 2026 to withdraw from DART to stop pouring millions of dollars from their residents into a transit system few people use. With Plano alone contributing $109 million to DART, while receiving just $44 million in local service and having only 0.6 percent of commuters using the transit system, it is clear local taxpayers are funding waste and inefficiency, not mobility. Read more here.
