This Week In Waste – December 5, 2025
Welcome to This Week in Waste, a series by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) that highlights how taxpayer dollars are being wasted in the federal, state, and local levels of government and efforts to fight back against this spendthrift behavior.
CAGW Names Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson November 2025 Porker of the Month
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s (D) push for nearly $500 million in new taxes to address a $1.2 billion budget deficit includes new business taxes, online sports betting taxes, and the first-ever tax on social media companies. His choice to raise taxes instead of cutting wasteful spending will accelerate the outflow of businesses and families from Chicago. Read more here.
GAO Report Vindicates Opposition to Obamacare Subsidy Extensions
The Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) December 3, 2025, report found that the enhanced premium tax credits that were at the center of the October government shutdown were not only made available to people making up to $500,000 but also rife with waste, fraud, and abuse. This revelation vindicates Republicans’ opposition to extending the subsidies. Read more here.
Most Favored Nation (MFN) Price Controls Do Not Favor Patients
The Trump administration’s efforts to lower drug prices should not include the adoption of MFN price controls on biopharmaceuticals. It would lead to higher spending, stifle innovation and new drug research and development, and create an “invisible graveyard” of American patients, while other countries free ride on the creation of new drugs in the U.S. The better ways to lower drug prices include reforming the 340B drug discount program, eliminating the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, and rejecting price controls. Read more here.
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Arielle Roth Announces Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program Savings
NTIA’s June 2025 updated BEAD guidance has led to a savings of $21 billion from the $42.45 billion BEAD program. Thanks to the Trump administration scrapping the non-statutory and burdensome guidance set forth under the Biden administration, states have been cutting costs and will be able to expedite deployment. For example, Louisiana slashed per-location costs from $120,000 to just over $7,000 and cut its funding by $850 million from the original BEAD allocation. CAGW has suggested that any “BEAD bonus” should go back to taxpayers. Read more here.
Reining In 340B Abuse is Essential to Protect Employers and Patients
The 340B program, established to provide discounts on drugs to low-income patients, has exploited by large hospitals and contract pharmacies, which pocket markups at a high cost to taxpayers and employers, including $32 billion in additional annual Medicaid spending. While reforms at the federal level are essential, including defining a patient and greater accountability, states like Florida should establish policies that provide greater transparency over how the 340B funds are being used. Read more here.
Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman August Pfluger (R-Texas) Makes the Case for a Second Reconciliation Bill
The RSC has created a framework for a second reconciliation blueprint focused on affordability, law and order, and the American family. CAGW has suggested that the reconciliation bill include proposals from its Prime Cuts 2025 report, which will save taxpayers $606.2 billion in the first year and $5.4 trillion over five years and make the second reconciliation package a significant victory for taxpayers. Read more here.
Copper Thieves are Wreaking Havoc Across America
High copper prices have fueled an explosion of copper wire thefts. There were 9,770 incidents in the last six months, which cost providers tens of millions of dollars. The wire thefts have cut access to emergency services and schools, once again highlighting the urgency of streamlining copper wire retirement. Read more here.
As Pennsylvanians Reach for Leftovers, Governor Shapiro Serves Up Pork
Pennsylvania’s long-delayed $50.09 billion budget is full of pork-barrel spending, saddling households with estimated $9,568. Despite declining school enrollment and runaway Medicaid costs, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), CAGW’s September 2025 Porker of the Month, advanced an oversized budgetary plan, which will continue the decade-long surge in state spending. Read more here.
Trump Ends Electric Vehicle Mandates
The Trump administration’s “Freedom Means Affordable Cars” proposal resets the Biden-Buttigieg Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards and is projected to save $109 billion over five years, while enabling Americans to afford safer, newer cars. Restoring reasonable fuel economy targets ensures that market-driven, technology-neutral policies will protect taxpayers and reduce government waste and abuse. Read more here.
Cook County, Illinois, Establishes Irresponsible Permanent Funding for Guaranteed Income
Cook County’s decision to make guaranteed income permanent is yet another example of fiscal irresponsibility. The municipality is locking taxpayers into an unfunded promise that was propped up by one-time federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act. The county is moving ahead even though Chicago scrapped its own guaranteed income scheme. Instead of cutting waste, Cook County is doubling down on long-term government dependency. Read more here.
