Good morning - 

I take seriously the responsibility Iowans have entrusted in me to make our government more competent and less wasteful.

With the national debt currently exceeding $21 trillion, my Squeal Award identifies specific areas of government abuse, pork barrel spending and inefficiencies that have proven to be unnecessary and must be cut. 


Squeal Award: $15 Billion Authorized by Congress, yet Unspent by the Executive Branch

Building on my efforts to make Washington squeal, I helped introduce the President’s rescission package in the Senate, legislation that rescinds $15 billion in unspent funds.  This legislation not only allows the government to take back unused funds, but also prevents Congress from redirecting these dollars to spend more money elsewhere. 

At $15 billion, this is the largest rescission package ever proposed, and the first since the year 2000. 

It includes several common-sense spending cuts. For example, it would rescind over $4 billion in unused funds from a program that provides loans to car manufacturers for the production of advanced vehicles.  There have not been any new loans issued under this program since 2011, and the Government Accountability Office has recommended rescinding funding unless the Department of Energy can show there is demand and viable applications for these loans.

It would also cut $86 million in unused funding for earmarks and over $100 million in unused Department of Transportation funding that was appropriated in the early 2000s.

At a time when we are $21 trillion in debt, this bill would have been a small step in the right direction, cutting unobligated funds that are not necessary to administer programs and services. 

Unfortunately, some of my colleagues were unwilling to cut even unspent and unnecessary dollars. The measure failed in the Senate by a vote of 48 to 50.

For failing to pass this common-sense rescission package, I hereby present the United States Senate with this month’s Squeal Award. 

 


Do you have an example of government waste or inefficiencies that I should take a look at? Send me an email by clicking here.

Thank you!