Rand Paul Publishes Annual Report on Government Waste

Senator Rand Paul released his annual Festivus Report highlighting the most egregious examples of government waste on Friday, as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are set to tackle wasteful spending and unnecessary bureaucracy with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“Last Festivus, we bemoaned the national debt nearing $34 trillion. In just a year, Washington’s career politicians and bureaucrats have managed to push it beyond $36 trillion,” said Sen. Paul.

“Who’s to blame for our crushing national debt? Everybody. This year, members of both political parties in Congress voted for massive spending bills, filled with subsidies for underperforming industries, continued military aid to Ukraine, and controversial climate initiatives,” he added.

This year, Paul identified over $1 trillion of what he considers wasteful spending, including funding for ice-skating drag queens, Ukrainian influencers, and children’s TV in Iraq, among numerous other absurd expenditures.

Paul provided a list of what he considers some of the worst misuses of taxpayer funds.

• Over $10 billion to fund and maintain nearly empty federal buildings.
• $12 million on a pickleball court in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• $330,000 in funding from the Department of State to promote censorship of conservative news outlets.
• $2 million in a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grant to fund a study about children looking at food ads on Facebook.
• $419,470 from the HHS to fund a study to determine whether lonely rats want cocaine more or less than other rats.
• A $15.5 billion push for electric vehicles.
• $4,840,082 for online influencers.
• $3 Million for ‘Girl-Centered Climate Action’ in Brazil.
• $345,434 in funding a football initiative intended to somehow counter terrorism.
• $7 Million worth of witchcraft and magic related spending, including funding for a podcast on magic, and a study of the children’s show The Magic School Bus.
• $20 million for a Sesame Street show for children in Iraq.
• $10,000 for an ace skating drag show.
• $40,000 for a pigeon statue.
• $123,066 to educate youth in Kyrgyzstan on how to make viral videos.
• $10,851,439 to electrically shock cats into getting erections.
• $2.1 million for border security in Paruguay, while an unprecedented flood of illegal immigrants crossed the U.S. border.
• $892 billion in interest payments on the national debt for 2024 alone.

Paul, like his father, former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, has long been a hawk on government spending excesses and an opponent of any increases to the national debt.

In his annual report, he promised to continue working to cut needless and absurd public spending under President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming second administration.

“As always, taking the path to fiscal responsibility is often a lonely journey, but I’ve been fighting government waste like DOGE before DOGE was cool. And I will continue my fight against government waste this holiday season,” said Paul.

Musk and Ramaswamy’s DOGE quickly responded to Paul’s report, highlighting the seemingly insurmountable growth of the national debt.

“Unless addressed, the U.S. Govt will add over $6.4 billion of debt every day for the next ten years, borrowing over $268 million every hour, $4.5 million every minute and $74,401 every second,” said DOGE on X.