This Week In Waste – November 21, 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.
This Week in Waste will be taking a break the week of Thanksgiving and wishes all its readers a happy and joyful holiday. Be sure to watch for our next issue in December.
Committee Hearing Should End Calls for Deposit Insurance Increase
The House Committee on Financial Services November 18, 2025, hearing underscored that the March 2023 bank failures stemmed from mismanagement and supervisory lapses, not a lack of a $10 million insurance cap. Hiking coverage would only fuel moral hazard, increase risk of future bailouts, and saddle taxpayers with massive costs, including a projected $42 billion special assessment for the Deposit Insurance Fund recapitalization. Read more here.
Virginia Infusion Clinic Manager Speaks Out Against 340B
Business manager for a clinic in Tysons Corner, Virginia, Michael Pearl described how the federal 340B program, intended to help low-income and uninsured patients, has been hijacked by large hospital systems that buy discounted drugs and charge inflated prices, generating massive profits while investing little in charity care. Read more here.
Time to Reconsider Khan FTC Lawsuits
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should review and reconsider the ongoing cases that began during the Biden administration under Chair Lina Khan. Her approach to antitrust law, along with her anti-capitalist and anti-business policies led to her being named Citizens Against Government Waste’s September 2023 and November 2024 Porker of the Month. Read more here.
Increased Gas Exports Are Unlikely to Result in Higher Energy Prices
Expanded natural gas exports are expected to generate $73 billion in economic gains and create 450,000 jobs by 2040. Those concerned about higher domestic energy prices ignore that deregulation and investment will boost supply and save American businesses and consumers money while strengthening national energy industry. Read more here.
Visa, Mastercard Reach $38 Billion Swipe Fee Settlement
After two decades of litigation, the Visa-Mastercard settlement finally delivers market-driven relief, projecting more than $200 billion for merchants through lower interchange fees and greater flexibility in card acceptance. As a result, Congress has no more rationale for Durbin-Marshall price controls. Read more here.
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Resists “Hypothetical” Funding Proposals
NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth warned on Tuesday, November 18, that too many Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program applicants are propping up their projects with “speculative” future grants, increasing the risk of cost overruns and defaults. With BEAD likely the last major federal broadband program for years, taxpayers deserve strict oversight and hard limits on risky, unclear, or speculative funding schemes. Read more here.
Broadband Prices Continue to Decline as Upload and Download Speeds Increase
According to the U.S. Telecom Association November 19, 2025, report, while consumer prices have increased by 35.8 percent since 2015, the price for broadband has decreased by 43 percent. $89.6 billion in private broadband investment last year alone is driving better service and lower bills, proving that market competition expands affordability and strengthens America’s digital future. Read more here.
California Campaigns to Introduce the First-of-Its-Kind Billionaire Tax
California’s proposed one-time 5 percent wealth tax on billionaires is a risky initiative that could chase entrepreneurs and investors out of the state, complicate valuations of illiquid assets, and ultimately shrink the tax base it seeks to expand. Targeting paper wealth instead of income or realized gains punishes success, threatens innovation, and sets a dangerous precedent for politically motivated confiscatory taxation. Read more here.
