Sen. Paul's annual 'Festivus' report reveals more than $1 trillion in wasteful spending by Biden-Harris, Congress

By 
 December 26, 2024

As has become an annual tradition for the past decade, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has released his humorous but infuriating "Festivus" report that highlights egregious examples of wasteful and unnecessary federal spending.

In this year's report, the Republican senator exposed more than $1 trillion in wasteful spending of taxpayer money by the Biden-Harris administration, albeit often in conjunction with members of Congress from both parties, Fox News reported.

In dollar increments that range from tens of thousands to millions and billions, the report reveals how the government seems incapable of displaying even a modicum of fiscal responsibility and is more than willing to expend taxpayer funds on just about anything imaginable.

More than $1 trillion in wasteful spending exposed

In Sen. Paul's annual "Festivus" report, released through the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, at least "$1,008,313,329,626.12 worth of federal waste" was detailed and exposed.

Some of the worst examples highlighted by the committee included $12 million to construct a pickleball court complex in Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as $2.1 million to strengthen Paraguay's borders while the U.S. borders remain unsecured.

Also exposed was the estimated $90 billion, admittedly over the past couple decades, that has been spent on ineffective and problem-plagued coastal combat vessels for the U.S. Navy.

The report also included more than $400,000 to study cocaine usage among rats confined to lonely environments, more than $32,000 to promote breakdancing as an Olympic sport in other countries, and $10,000 to fund an ice-skating show about climate change featuring drag queen performers.

Time for an airing of grievances

In the 41-page report, Sen. Paul noted that even though the national debt now exceeds $36 trillion, neither Congress nor the Biden-Harris admin have reined in their spending and instead have seemingly been more wasteful with taxpayer dollars than ever before.

As a nod to the hilarious "Seinfeld" episode about the made-up "Festivus" holiday, the senator channeled his inner Frank Costanza -- portrayed by the inimitable Jerry Stiller -- and wrote, "So, before we get to the Feats of Strength, it’s time for my Airing of (spending) Grievances!" and added, "I have a lot of problems with federal spending, and now it’s time to hear all about them!"

Some of the biggest items on Paul's list included $10 billion spent to furnish, maintain, and lease largely empty office buildings for federal workers around the country, which was surpassed by the estimated $15.5 billion spent to convince reluctant Americans to give up their gas-powered autos in favor of electric vehicles.

Neither of those come anywhere close to matching the roughly $892 billion that was spent just this year to service the annual interest alone on the aforementioned $36 trillion national debt -- both of which are predicted to increase rapidly over the coming years if fiscal sanity is not swiftly imposed.

These will make you mad

Some of Sen. Paul's other spending grievances included a combined $14+ million spent on various cruel and experimental studies by assorted federal agencies on test subject cats that often involved the torture and eventual deaths of innocent animals.

Tons of taxpayer dollars were also spent supporting what should be privately funded ventures in foreign nations, such as $20 million for an Arabic "Sesame Street" spinoff in Iraq, $20 million to teach farmers in foreign countries to more effectively use fertilizer, nearly $1 million to support the filmmaking industry in Jordan, a half-million to fund a social media PR campaign in Ethiopia, and almost $350,000 to promote soccer internationally as an alternative to terrorism.

Other infuriating examples include nearly $5 million to support Ukrainian social media "influencers," a quarter-million to fight online "misinformation" in Bosnia, more than $120,000 to train youth in Kyrgyzstan how to go "viral" on social media -- that their government censors heavily -- and approximately $330,000 to support a U.K.-based "disinformation index" that is used to censor and marginalize conservative and independent media in the U.S., among dozens of other unnecessary things.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson