Government Waste: The facts creating a generational disaster.

It is all the rage these days, from Washington D.C. to barrooms and kitchen tables across America. The words “government waste” are tossed around with both a confident ease and a true lack of understanding exactly what the words mean, and the ramifications they have on everyday American life. It’s much like the well-worm social media meme, where one day someone is an expert on air traffic control systems, the nest day they’re now thoroughly schooled in the economics of government spending.

It would be uproariously funny, were it not for the fact most people have zero clue what they’re talking about, and they have little or no interest in learning the truth.

The narrative of rampant government waste has been a cornerstone of political rhetoric in America for decades. From Republican slogans to news cycles dominated by sound bites, the idea that the government is hemorrhaging taxpayer dollars at an alarming rate has been a persistent theme. Politicians on both sides have long been accused of authoring “pork barrel” projects—pet spending initiatives slipped into legislation without scrutiny—while watchdogs, think tanks, and the media have exposed mismanagement and inefficiency. But the truth behind government waste is far more complicated than the popular narrative suggests, and much of what is labeled as waste is, in fact, essential spending that serves the needs of the American people.

The Myth of Government Waste

The most frequent accusation thrown around by conservatives, and many libertarians, is that the government wastes trillions of dollars. However, when you examine the numbers, the picture isn’t as clear-cut as politicians would like you to believe. According to a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), out of the $7.8 trillion in federal spending, about 16% could be classified as discretionary spending, which is subject to annual debates on waste and misuse. But much of this money goes toward funding essential services like healthcare, defense, Social Security, and Medicare, which are anything but wasteful.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) regularly tracks inefficiency, but when they report on waste, it typically falls under categories like "inefficient processes," "mismanagement," or "poorly executed programs," many of which could be attributed to under-funding and lack of personnel—not outright waste. Yet, the political narrative wrongly and easily pushes the idea that these services are inherently wasteful.

Political Games with Taxpayer Money

Both sides of the political aisle are complicit in enabling and perpetuating government waste. Lawmakers, regardless of party affiliation, have long engaged in “earmarking,” the practice of attaching local projects to broader bills, effectively securing funding for their districts or pet projects. One of the more legendary examples of this abhorrent waste, and again engaged in by Republican lawmakers, is the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" project in Alaska that to this day is still the focal point of ridicule.

While the intent behind earmarks can be to fund legitimate projects that benefit the community—such as new roads, bridges, or medical research—it’s undeniable that these often come with unnecessary costs. Some of these earmarks go toward projects that are political favors for powerful constituents, creating the appearance of waste.

Republicans, in particular, love to point out government waste while conveniently ignoring the waste their own party perpetuates. The Republican National Committee (RNC) has repeatedly criticized the $700 billion defense budget as wasteful, but never with the same intensity when a Republican administration pushes for even more spending. According to a 2019 study by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), the Department of Defense (DoD) was found to have spent at least $12 billion on wasteful projects, such as a $1 billion airplane that couldn’t fly and another program that cost taxpayers $900 million for an army of helicopters that would never be used. Yet, Republicans champion the DoD’s budget, and no one questions its astronomical cost.

The Real Waste: Cutting Essential Services

One of the greatest ironies of the entire government waste debate is that while politicians make sweeping accusations about bloated budgets, many of them are simultaneously slashing essential social services, particularly under the Trump administration. The slashing of budgets across critical agencies has resulted in widespread layoffs, diminished services, and growing inefficiency, which ironically only exacerbates the so-called waste that is often blamed on government employees.

A recent example of this came in Florida, where under budget cuts championed by conservative lawmakers, employees at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge were fired. This was a move justified by the state’s efforts to cut unnecessary expenses. However, the irony is glaring: the employees in question were charged with protecting endangered manatees in a wildlife park. By cutting funding, the state not only harmed an ecosystem but did so for savings so minuscule that it couldn’t possibly justify the damage to the environment and the loss of critical oversight.

In 2024, a total of 565 manatees died in Florida, primarily due to habitat loss and pollution. The good news is that their fatality numbers have been steadily dropping thanks to the efforts of those at Crystal River and other locations around Florida. The distressing news is that the death toll will now likely increase without park rangers actively monitoring and preventing harmful human activities. Cutting these jobs didn’t just eliminate a few roles—it endangered an already vulnerable species. Yet, this cost-saving measure was promoted as a necessary step toward reducing waste.

Trump and Musk's Overreach: The False Search for Waste

Both President Trump and wild-eyed madman Elon Musk have frequently decried government waste, but their approach to cutting what they deem unnecessary services often has the opposite effect. Trump’s push to cut federal employee ranks under the guise of eliminating waste only resulted in a decimated workforce that could no longer provide the necessary services, from disaster relief to essential research. Musk, while touting government waste, seems oblivious to the fact that many of the agencies he criticizes—such as NASA, the EPA, and the Department of Energy—are essential to the scientific and environmental progress that directly benefits humanity.

Trump’s tax cuts for the wealthy under his administration are often cited as a major contributor to the deficit, yet they were promoted as a way to reduce government “waste” in favor of economic growth. According to the Congressional Research Service, these tax cuts were projected to add at least $1.9 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. This wasn’t a move to cut “waste”; it was a move to widen the gap between the rich and the poor, fueling inequality while reducing the government’s ability to invest in the public good.

Trump is personally responsible for adding close to $8T to the national debt during his first term in office, thanks to those tax cuts that benefited his wealthy friends and donors. That’s “T” as in “trillion”. Count on one hand the number of times Trump and his cult following mention that shocking waste of your money.

You’ll have plenty of fingers left.

The True Waste: Cutting Jobs and Services

What is the real waste? It's not the government agencies struggling to do more with less. It’s the systematic dismantling of services and the cutting of jobs that could support critical services like public health, social security, and infrastructure maintenance. It’s the refusal to address inequalities in funding for schools, hospitals, and emergency services, while wealth is funneled into bloated defense contracts and tax cuts for the super-rich.

We must look beyond the rhetoric and examine the true cost of these cuts. Job losses, especially among lower-income workers, have long-term societal impacts. They exacerbate unemployment, hinder economic mobility, and increase the reliance on social services that are no longer adequately funded. These cuts are marketed as “necessary,” but they only serve the political interests of those who stand to benefit from a smaller, less functional government.

The Fight for a Functional Government

The fight against government waste shouldn’t be about hacking away at the institutions that provide essential services to the American public. Instead, it should be about addressing the systemic inefficiencies and making sure that every dollar spent is used wisely. To do that, we need lawmakers who are not afraid to stand up for the critical services that make this country function—whether that’s protecting endangered species, ensuring social safety nets are in place, or investing in infrastructure that provides long-term economic growth.

At the moment, one set of lawmakers continue to lead us down a path of financial destruction, and the other set seems powerless and rudderless in fighting back.

We are now further from having a functional, fiscally responsible government than at any time in our history. It will reverberate for decades, perhaps even a generation or more.

That cost will be more than financial. It will be the very soul of what is supposed to be America.

Read more of Ed Berliner's commentaries on the email newsletters "Shakedown Street" and "The Business Beagle", both of which can be subscribed to here on his website. Contact Ed to be a guest speaker and lecturer at your event, choosing from the myriad of topics he writes about.