Sen. Rand Paul's Festivus Report

Senator Rand Paul just released the latest edition of his annual Festivus report.  As always, it compiles lots of federal health care waste, along with other, more general government waste.

Some highlights of the health care related waste in the 2025 Festivus Report:

https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/FESTIVUS-2025-FINAL.pdf

The Festivus Report 2025

Happy Festivus! How is 2025 already nearly over? What a year it’s been. So much has happened since last year’s Festivus Report: Katy Perry went to space, we all found out nothing beats a Jet2 Holiday, the Wicked press tour flooded our feeds, the Pope is now American, and SNL turned 50 years old. And of course, because highlighting aste is a year-round endeavor, my Committee continued conducting effective oversight over USAID’s reckless spending and even held a hearing on it.

Last Festivus, we clamored over the national debt reaching over an astronomical $36 trillion. Shockingly, in one short year, the career politicians and bureaucrats in Washington have managed to reach nearly $40 trillion in debt, without so much as a second thought. When asked who’s to blame for our crushing level of debt, the answer is “Everyone.”  This year, Congress voted to raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, the most we ever have.

Congress keeps shoveling money toward pet projects and special interests while hardworking Americans pay the price through inflation and crushing interest rates – even after President Trump took action to end most foreign aid programs.

From a $20 billion bailout for Argentina * to continued funding for global health programs through waivers, Washington found new ways to keep the cash flowing. And with every new handout, the mountain of debt grows even higher.

For the first time in 50 years, President Trump deployed a pocket rescission, cancelling $5 billion in foreign aid and international organization funding. While it’s a good start, it’s just a drop in the bucket. The Congressional Budget Office predicts we will add an average of $23.9 trillion in debt annually for the next decade. The U.S. government will add over $6.53 billion of debt every single day for the next ten years. We borrow over $272 million every hour, we borrow $4.54 million every minute, and we borrow over $75,000 every second.

This year, I’m spotlighting a jaw-dropping amount of government waste — the kind that makes you wonder if anyone in Washington has ever heard the word “priorities.” A grand total of $1,639,135,969,608, which includes $1.22 trillion in interest payments on the debt.

We discovered cash going toward experiments teaching ferrets to binge drink alcohol and dosing dogs with cocaine (again). Then there were taxpayer dollars spent on safe spaces at a private university. It wouldn’t be a Festivus Waste celebration without mentioning the $2.1 million spent for researchers to collect saliva samples and survey partiers at EDM clubs and festivals in New York City about their drug use. White Coat Waste helped us uncover hundreds of millions of your hard-earned tax dollars funding labs, gain-of-function research, and brutal experiments on dogs, monkeys, and rats. That includes over $13.8 million on beagle experiments, $14,643,280 to make monkeys play a “Price Is Right”-inspired video game, and so much more.

No matter how much taxpayer money Washington burns through, politicians can’t help but demand more. Fiscal responsibility may not be the most crowded road, but it’s one I’ve walked year after year — and this holiday season will be no different. So, before we get to the Feats of Strength, it’s time for my Airing of (Spending) Grievances.

I’ve got plenty of bones to pick with reckless federal spending, and now you’re going to hear every one of them.

Happy Festivus!

Tik Tok Therapy: Fighting Drugs with Influencers: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is spending $1.5 million on an “innovative multilevel strategy” to reduce drug use in ‘Latinx’ communities through celebrity influencer campaigns.

Weight Loss by Wi-Fi: HHS is spending $1.9 million on a “hybrid mobile phone family intervention” designed to reduce childhood obesity among Latino families in Los Angeles County.

More COVID Panic Theatre: HHS spent over $40 million on influencers to promote getting vaccinated against COVID-19 for racial and ethnic minority groups.

Doomscrolling Studies: HHS is giving $2.9 million to University of Michigan to study the effect of screen time on parent-child relationships.

Make Vegetables More Inclusive: USDA spent $141,517 to create a ‘resilient and equitable’ local food network that prioritizes culturally relevant food for low-income LGBT people of color from the Bronx and Brooklyn.

On the Operating Table: HHS spent $6.9 million using data to analyze and model trauma and surgery outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa.

Woke U: HHS gave $3.3 million to Northwestern University so they can hire 15 people, erect “scientific neighborhoods,” install “safe space ambassadors,” and form endless committees to “dismantle systemic racism.”

Bears, Drag Queens, and Bureaucracy: HHS spent $936,000 on marketing campaigns, advisory boards, and engagement strategies targeting niche subcultures in Los Angeles—specifically the “bear/cub,” “drag queen,” and “queer punk rock” scenes—about STD testing and treatment capacity.

Saliva Swabs and Sandstorm: HHS spent $2.1 million for researchers to collect saliva samples and conduct surveys at EDM clubs and festivals in New York City about drug usage.

Pandemic Profiteering: The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) gave EcoHealth Alliance $54 million to collect bat coronaviruses and transport them to Wuhan for gain-of-function experiments.

Fauci’s Beagle Labs Live On: NIH extended funding for Dr. Fauci’s beagle experiments, costing taxpayers $13.8 million.

Coked-Up Canines Redux: NIH spent $5,215,216 to dose dogs with cocaine. Again.

Ferrets on a Booze Binge: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) wasted over $1,079,360 teaching teenage ferrets to binge drink alcohol.

Bird-Brained Spending in China: The Biden U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded a $1 million collaboration to soup up bird flu viruses with the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s parent organization and a researcher affiliated with WIV.

Grants for Guatemalan Gender Bending: USAID squandered $2 million for “gender-affirming care,” activism, and influence campaigns in Guatemala.

Bug Buffets: NSF committed $2,494,321 to programs that promote insects as "food for humans.”

Not the “BLT” You’re Thinking Of: DOD funded $2,818,462 in grants that have paid for aborted human fetal tissue to be implanted in humanized mice.

Much more at the hyperlink, including more details, above.

*  Senator Paul is a medical doctor, not an economist.  He is wrong here.  The U.S. created a $20 billion currency swap line with Argentina’s central bank in October from the Exchange Stabilization Fund.  This is a normal Treasury practice to encourage trade.  We need Argentine beef right now.  This swap line is not a bailout: the U.S. Treasury will make a substantial profit if it is used by Argentina.  The Argentines will only make money if we use it.  It has not been used yet.