From Fox News: Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul released the latest edition of his annual “Festivus” report Tuesday detailing over $1 trillion in alleged wasteful spending in the U.S. government throughout 2025.
The newly released report found an estimated $1,639,135,969,608 total in government waste over the past year. Paul, a prominent fiscal hawk who serves as the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in a statement that “no matter how much taxpayer money Washington burns through, politicians can’t help but demand more.”
“Fiscal responsibility may not be the most crowded road, but it’s one I’ve walked year after year — and this holiday season will be no different,” Paul continued. “So, before we get to the Feats of Strength, it’s time for my Airing of (Spending) Grievances.”
In this year’s wasteful government spending report, Paul announced, “We discovered cash going toward experiments teaching ferrets to binge drink alcohol and dosing dogs with cocaine (again). Then there were taxpayer dollars spent on safe spaces at a private university. It wouldn’t be a Festivus Waste celebration without mentioning the $2.1 million spent for researchers to collect saliva samples and survey partiers at EMC clubs and festivals in New York City about their drug use.
“White Coat Waste helped us uncover hundreds of millions of your hard-earned tax dollars funding labs, gain-of-function research, and brutal experiments on dogs, monkeys and rats. That includes over $13.8 million on beagle experiments, $14,643,280 to make monkeys play a “Price is Right”-inspired video game, and so much more.”
Some of the wild wasteful spending highlighted in Sen. Paul’s new report includes:
The U.S. State Department gave $244,252 to Stand for Peace in Islambad to produce a television cartoon series that teaches kids in Pakistan how to fight climate change.
The State Department spent $1.5 million to promote American films, TV shows and video games abroad.
HHS spent $936,000 on arketing campaigns, advisory boards, and engagement strategies targeting niche subcultures in Los Angeles – specifically the “bear/cub,” “drag queen,” and “queer punk rock” scenes – about STD testing and treatment capacity.
USAID gave EcoHealth Alliance $54 million to collect bat coronaviruses and transport them to Wuhan for gain-of-function experiments.
The Biden Department of Argiculture funded a $1 million project to soup up bird flu viruses with the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s parent organization and a researcher affiliated with WIV.
NIH extended funding for Dr. Fauci’s beagle experiments, costing taxpayers $13.8 million.
NIH spent $5.2 million to dose dogs with cocaine. Again.
The Department of Veterans Affairs wasted over $1 million teaching teenage ferrets to binge drink alcohol.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and other agencies paid $14.6 million to make moneys play a “Price is Right”-inspired video game.
NSF also committed $2,494,321 to programs that promote insects as food for humans.
The Department of Defense is spending an estimated $77 million per year on an unncessary dolphin training program that Congress won’t let end.
HHS is spending $1.9 million on a “hybrid mobile phone family intervention” designed to reduce childhood obesity among Latino families in Los Angeles County.
HHS spent over $40 million on influencers to promote Covid vaccines to racial and ethnic minority groups.
USDA spent $141,517 to create a “resilient and equitable” local food network that prioritizes culturally relevant food for low-income LGBT people of color from the Bronx and Brooklyn.
HHS is giving $2.9 million to University of Michigan to study the effect of screen time on parent-child relationships.
HHS spent $6.9 million using data to analyze and model trauma and surgery outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa.
HHS gave $3.3 million to Northwestern University so they can hire 15 people, erect “scientific neighborhoods,” install “safe space ambassadors,” and form endless committees to “dismantle systemic racism.”
USAID spent $2 million for “gender-affirming care,” activism and influence campaigns in Guatemala.
Congress gave the Biden Transportation Department $7.5 BILLION to fund electric vehicle charging stations nationwide, but only 68 are up and running.
HHS spent $22.6 BILLION on migrant programs that paid for furniture, car repairs, home downpayments and welare for illegal aliens.
CLICK HERE to access the entire report just released by Sen. Rand Paul.
P.S. We also included sneak peeks at items already waiting in the wings for next year’s report if Washington decides to shove them through appropriations😉
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2025
READ MORE from Fox News.
Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter.)
The DML News App: www.X.com/DMLNewsApp
The Dennis Michael Lynch Podcast archive is available below, with the most recent on top. Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the show by downloading The DML News App or go to Apple Podcasts.
