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Sen. Paul’s Festus reports, all 7 years.

These Are The Wasteful Federal Grants Your Tax Money Pays For

https://fee.org/articles/5-absurd-examples-of-government-waste-in-2024/

5 Absurd Examples of Government Waste in 2024
The government spends money on some of the craziest things.

$27 BILLION IN WASTEFUL EARMARKS. READ AND LEARN WHAT WAS STOLEN FROM YOUR PAYCHECKS.
https://www.msn.com/.../pig-book-exposes-23.../ar-BB1o6Lnf
The Whole Hog Award
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) received this title for 231 earmarks totaling $575,580,000, the highest amount received.
The House of Pork Award
This title went to Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), who received 13 earmarks, totaling $270,330,940, which was the most in the House of Representatives.
The You Cannot be Serious Award
Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) were called out for their earmark of $1,750,000 for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
The Singing A Sour Note for Taxpayers Award
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) received this award as a result of their earmarks for their respective opera houses in their states, which were a combined $739,000. The funding included $500,000 from Sanders for the Vergennes Opera House in Vermont and $239,000 from Collins for the Bangor Opera House in Maine.
The Crabby Pork Award
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) took home this award for an earmark of $4,000,000 for the Alaska King Crab Enhancement Project.
The We’re Going to Need a Bigger Boat Award
Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) received an earmark of $190,000 for a shark repellant study at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida. The criticism comes after a number of shark attacks in Florida over the weekend.
The Presidential Library Industrial Complex Award
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) received this acknowledgment for an earmark totaling $17,500,000 for construction at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Kansas.
The Fiscal Unfitness Award
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) received this award for an earmark of $500,000 she received for the restoration of a historic gymnasium in Madison, Mississippi.
A group of Republican House members stood alongside a non-profit organization Wednesday as it released the 32nd edition of the “Congressional Pig Book,” an annual, published compilation of “pork-barrel” projects in the federal budget, in an effort to shed light on what they view as wasteful pet projects.
The non-profit group Citizens Against Government Waste has published a collection of pork-barrel spending every year since 1991. The book features lawmakers from both sides of the aisle who the authors say are responsible for spending earmarks, known as community project funding, which direct federal dollars to specific “pet projects” in members’ home states and districts.
The authors hosted an event, featuring a live pig named Poppy, to raise awareness over the number of earmarks. The group found a total of 8,222 earmarks in the past fiscal year, which cost $22.7 billion. Several House Republicans, including Reps. Tom McClintock (R-CA), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), and Ralph Norman (R-SC) spoke out to slam the spending practice.