Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday unveiled his latest “Festivus” report, claiming the federal government squandered roughly $1.6 trillion on wasteful or irresponsible spending. The report has become Paul’s yearly tradition inspired by the Seinfeld TV series holiday which centered on airing grievances.
The report states: “Congress keeps shoveling money toward pet projects and special interests while hardworking Americans pay the price through inflation and crushing interest rates – even after President Trump took action to end most foreign aid programs.”
Among the examples cited are a series of health-related research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health. The report notes that NIH spent $5 million on experiments involving dogs and cocaine, as well as $13.8 million on beagle studies initiated under former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The Department of Health and Human Services appears repeatedly in the report. Paul points to $1.5 million spent on influencer campaigns aimed at reducing drug use in “latinx” communities, $1.9 million for a mobile phone-based obesity intervention targeting Latino families in Los Angeles, and a $936,000 marketing effort focused on certain LGBT subcultures in the same region to promote STD testing and treatment.
Additional HHS spending flagged in the report includes $2.1 million used in New York City to gather saliva samples and conduct surveys at electronic dance music clubs and festivals. Another $3.3 million went to Northwestern University for initiatives described as creating “scientific neighborhoods,” employing “safe space ambassadors,” and forming committees designed to dismantle “systemic racism.”
Paul also revisits prior controversies, including the $22.6 billion HHS spent on welfare and related services for illegal immigrants during the Biden administration. The report further criticizes $7.5 billion allocated by Congress for the Biden administration’s electric vehicle charging network, which resulted in just 68 stations being built nationwide.
The National Science Foundation is similarly criticized for what Paul calls questionable research priorities. The report cites $14 million spent by NSF and other agencies on a project in which monkeys played a video game modeled after ‘The Price Is Right,’ along with $2.4 million devoted to initiatives encouraging insects as a food source for humans.
Defense Department spending also draws scrutiny. According to the report, the Pentagon continues to allocate $77 million each year to a dolphin training program. In addition, the Department of Defense has provided $2.8 million in grants for research involving the implantation of aborted fetal tissue into humanized mice.
Rounding out the list are two of the largest expenditures highlighted: nearly $200 billion in Covid-19 relief funds directed to schools and $187 billion paid by the Federal Reserve to banks as interest on reserves held at the central bank.
