Rand Paul's 2025 Festivus Report on government waste. Over $1.6 trillion.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is spending $1.5 million on an “innovative multilevel strategy” to reduce drug use in ‘Latinx’ communities through celebrity influencer campaigns.
The U.S. Department of State gave $244,252 to Standfor Peace in Islamabad to produce a television cartoon series that teaches kids in Pakistan how to fight climate change.
The U.S. Department of State spent $1.5 million to promote American films, television shows, and video games abroad.
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 getting vaccinated against COVID-19 for racial and ethnic minority groups.
HHS is giving $2.9 million to University of Michigan to study the effect of screen time on parent-child relationships.
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 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.”
HHS spent $936,000 on marketing 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.
HHS spent $2.1 million for researchers to collect saliva samples and conduct surveys at EDM clubs and festivals in New York City about drug usage.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) gave EcoHealth Alliance $54 million to collect bat coronaviruses and transport them to Wuhan for gain-of-function experiments.
NIH extended funding for Dr. Fauci’s beagle experiments, costing taxpayers $13.8 million.
NIH spent $5,215,216 to dose dogs with cocaine. Again.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) wasted over $1,079,360 teaching teenage ferrets to binge drink alcohol.
The Biden U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded a $1 million collaboration to soup up bird flu viruses with the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s parent organization and a researcher affiliated with WIV.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) spent $497,200 on a “Video Game Challenge” for children.
NSF and other federal agencies paid $14,643,280 to make monkeys play a “Price Is Right”-inspired video game.
The Department of Defense (DOD) is spending an estimated $77 million a year on an unnecessary dolphin training program that Congress won’t let end.
USAID squandered $2 million for “gender-affirming care,” activism, and influence campaigns in Guatemala.
NSF committed $2,494,321 to programs that promote insects as "food for humans.”
DOD funded $2,818,462 in grants that have paid for aborted human fetal tissue to be implanted in humanized mice.
Americans shelled out $1.22 trillion in FY2025 to cover the interest on Washington’s maxed-out tab.
Schools received nearly $200 billion in COVID relief funds, which was wasted on things like rooms at Caesars Palace, renting out MLB stadiums, and ice cream trucks.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) paid a $1.8 billion overage for a shuttle that was six years behind schedule and stranded astronauts in space.
The Biden Department of Transportation (DOT) received $7.5 billion from Congress to fund electric vehicle charger stations nationwide, but only 68 charging stations are up and running.
HHS blew through $22.6 billion on migrant programs that paid for things like furniture, car repairs and home down payments, as well as welfare for illegal immigrants.
The Fed paid out $187 Billion in Interest on Reserve Balances (IORB) payments last year alone.
$2 Million to a San Diego hospital running a pediatric gender-affirming care center that facilitates gender transition surgeries for kids.
$2 Million to a tiny town in Alaska with just 67 residents.
$700,000 to a Boston chapter of an organization that supports protest rallies against President Trump, hates gas stoves, and more.
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/FESTIVUS-2025-FINAL.pdf
