Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced a bill requiring the government to disclose projects that go heavily over budget or run behind schedule.
Ernst’s “Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act” would require an annual report detailing taxpayer-funded government projects that run either five years behind schedule or at least $1 billion over budget. According to the bill, relevant projects include major acquisitions, major defense acquisition programs, procurements, construction projects, and remediation or cleanup efforts.
“From its ‘moondoggles’ to off-the-rails projects, Washington can’t seem to ever make the trains run on time or on budget,” Ernst told the Washington Examiner. “Bureaucrats always find a way to pay a whole lot more for planes, trains, and automobiles — and just about everything else. I am slamming the brakes on boondoggles and bringing them to a squealing halt.”
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) introduced companion legislation in the House.
Ernst’s office provided several examples of government projects that have gone far behind schedule and over budget. Perhaps the most infamous is California’s high-speed rail project, which costs roughly $1.8 million per day despite no tracks having been laid. The original price tag of $33 billion in 2008 has tripled to $128 billion, more than qualifying for Ernst’s new bill.
A project to introduce electric Next Generation Delivery Vehicles for the U.S. Postal Service at a cost of $10 billion was also cited — fewer than 100 of the ordered 50,000 trucks planned to be put into service by 2028 have so far been delivered.
The “moondoggle” decried by Ernst refers to NASA’s efforts to return to the moon, which have gone $6 billion over budget and years behind schedule.
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Ernst, who has made efforts to cut government waste a cornerstone of her time in the Senate, intensified her efforts following GOP victories in the 2024 elections. She co-founded the Senate DOGE Caucus, which has sought to coordinate with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to cut perceived government waste more effectively.
She has racked up victories on subjects such as ending government teleworking, which she was a vocal critic of.