U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) on Monday released the third volume of his report targeting out-of-control government spending, encouraging Congress to use its authority to prevent misuse of tax dollars in the future.
The 86-page report, “Federal Fumbles: 100 Ways the Government Dropped the Ball,” details $473.6 billion in wasteful and inefficient federal spending and offers success stories or “touchdowns” resulting from earlier editions. Lankford also outlines “forward progress” his solutions have provided.
“This book is designed to be a reminder that we still have an issue with debt and deficit in America,” Lankford said in a press conference on Monday. According to the report, current federal debt has reached $20.49 trillion, with a fiscal year 2017 deficit of $666 billion.
“For some reason, the conversation has slowed on the issue of debt and deficit. It should not,” Lankford added during the press conference. “So we released out this resource again as a set of ideas to say, if we are going to get control of our spending, if we’re going to manage our economy and our spending better, there are specific ways to do it.”
Among Lankford’s “Top 10 Fumbles by Cost” are inefficient IRS auditing procedures at an annual cost of $458 billion; Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program retailer transactions to the tune of $2.6 billion over 21 months that were later found to have been charged by ineligible retailers; a 10-mile expansion to San Diego’s trolley line costing the U.S. Department of Transportation $1.04 billion that could instead fund 100-250 miles of four-lane highways; and nearly $1 billion lost in FY 2016 by the Department of Defense due to not following payment requirements.
The report also provides examples of several positive changes that were implemented following Lankford’s 2015 and 2016 reports.
For example, one of 2016’s fumbles pointed out that a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rule set maximum calorie limits and restrictions on types of food available for students that were considered almost impossible to meet and left students hungry. A “touchdown” was scored when USDA Secretary Sonny Purdue announced this year that many of those requirements would be loosened so that local school districts have the necessary flexibility to ensure their students are given nutritious and filling meals.
A recurring theme throughout the last two years has been duplicative grants or programs, the report said, noting that the 2015 report highlighted two separate U.S. Department of Justice grant programs providing funding for law enforcement to purchase bullet-proof vests, with potential for wasted tax dollars through duplicated efforts.
Lankford provides solutions in his report.
“To promote better communication, I have begun introducing amendments to legislation involving grants to ensure grant programs include a requirement that before they offer a grant, agencies must compare it against existing grant programs. If the agency finds that its grant would duplicate an existing program, it must submit a report to Congress,” Lankford said in the report.
“We are trying to give some specific examples,” of government waste, Lankford said in the press conference. “But if we are going to deal with the deficit we have to be able to address it. We have to think about it and talk about it and find ways to solve it.”
Lankford in February introduced the bipartisan Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act. The bill, S. 317, would mandate an annual U.S. Government Accounting Office report disclosing government program costs and performance and areas of duplication among them. The bill has 11 cosponsors, including Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT) and Deb Fischer (R-NE), and is now awaiting Senate floor consideration after passing the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in May.