Don’t forget the relentless politicing to justify ever expanded budgets. Seems that most Govt employees simply work on projects to justify why they need more money to the more projects.
Reagan knew the secret. Amazing how much dead wood you clean out when you don’t just LIMIT a burecrats budget, but actually reduce it and keep it reduced.
So much money is wasted on failed projects that pride will not let fail. Sometimes they will stop a program with too much money is lost but some programs just continue and you can’t kill them even though they produce very little or nothing.
I am saying everything is a waste but when they waste money it can be large sums of money.