This Tax Day, Here Are Five Ways Washington Wastes Your Money

Millions of Americans are rushing to file their taxes by April 15. But once the Internal Revenue Service collects more than $5 trillion from households and businesses, it’s easy to lose track of where it goes. With large programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid consuming approximately $3.5 trillion combined per year, it’s hardly surprising that the U.S. is $39 trillion in debt. The massive scale of spending and epic ineptitude of the federal government results in an astounding level of waste. Below, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) shows five areas where federal finances are being terribly mismanaged:

1. Fraud and Improper Payments (more than $230 billion annually)

According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the federal government is exceptionally skilled at mismanaging taxpayer dollars. A January 2026 report by the watchdog notes, “the federal government loses between $233 billion and $521 billion annually due to fraud, based on data for fiscal years 2018 through 2022. Since fiscal year 2003, cumulative improper payment estimates reported by executive branch agencies have totaled about $2.8 trillion.” Closely related to fraud is the problem of improper payments, “defined by law as any payment that should not have been made or that was made in an incorrect amount.” Medicare and Medicaid—the government’s two largest health insurance programs—account for the most improper payments ($54 billion and $31 billion respectively).

Fortunately, transparency initiatives for programs such as Medicaid are allowing taxpayers and policymakers to see where spending is being misdirected and opportunities for reform. For example, thousands of claims filed for “nonemergency transport taxis” are being reimbursed at more than $500 per claim. It’s time for a comprehensive audit of these programs to root out waste, fraud, and abuse.

2. Farm Subsidies (more than $20 billion annually)

When farm subsidies first began under Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt, they were a (misguided) attempt to alleviate poverty and address economic woes. Fast forward more than 100 years, and these programs have drifted far from their original purpose and now represent a steady transfer of taxpayer dollars to a narrow slice of well-connected agricultural interests. Programs that were once justified as temporary stabilization tools during the Dust Bowl or post-war volatility have calcified into permanent entitlements. Today, taxpayers are on the hook for tens of billions of dollars annually across crop insurance subsidies, direct payments, disaster aid, and conservation programs that often overlap or duplicate one another. Instead of serving as a true safety net, these subsidies frequently guarantee revenue regardless of market conditions, insulating recipients from the very risks that define most other industries.

As Cato Institute scholar Chris Edwards notes, “Most welfare programs are for low-income families, but farm welfare is for high-income families. The average income of US farm households in 2024 was $159,334, which was 32 percent higher than the $121,000 average of all US households. But Congress steers subsidies to the wealthiest of those farm households. Two-thirds or more of payments from the major subsidy programs go to the largest 10 percent of farms. Even billionaires can receive farm subsidies.” It’s time to end these programs after a century of gross mismanagement.

3. The F-35 Fighter Jet Program ($20 billion annually)

Given that the Pentagon’s F-35 program is slated to cost taxpayers $2.1 trillion over the program’s 94-year lifecycle, one might assume that the resulting fighter jets are at least battle-ready. Information released just a few months ago casts significant doubt on that assumption. A recent GAO report concluded that the program would need to “reduce the scope” of current work in order to “deliver capabilities to the warfighter at a more predictable pace than in the past.” In other words, the GAO has tacitly admitted the F-35 will not meet stated expectations.

Meanwhile, “chronic stability deficiencies” continue to plague the program, and technology updates remain “predominantly unusable” for (at least) most of 2026 because of “stability problems, shortfalls in capability and ongoing discovery of deficiencies.” That’s on top of the hundreds of deficiencies already identified by the GAO in previous years’ reporting. It’s long past time to land this boondoggle.

4. Postal Electric Vehicle Purchases ($10 billion one-time cost)

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is almost as good at losing money as it is at losing mail. The agency lost $9 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2025, which is somehow an improvement from FY 2024’s net loss of $9.5 billion. As if the deluge of red ink was not enough, the agency will spend nearly $10 billion on a fleet of roughly 100,000 custom-built and commercial vehicles, including 66,000 EVs.

This agreement is a complete dumpster fire. EV deliveries are way behind schedule, and taxpayers and consumers are paying anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 more per EV than their gas-powered counterparts. However, this is probably a significant underestimate. In 2022, Congress appropriated $3 billion in taxpayer money to the USPS for the sole purpose of purchasing EVs, including $1.29 billion for the vehicles themselves and $1.71 billion for supporting infrastructure including charging stations. After taking into account this significant one-time sum of money and the USPS’ own “investment” dollars, total annual savings for switching to an all-gas fleet would likely approach $1 billion over the next ten years.

5. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) ($1 billion annually)

Established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”), CMMI was created to test and implement innovative healthcare payment and service delivery models. But it has rightly faced criticism for not being as groundbreaking or effective as initially anticipated. Despite receiving significant funding of about $1 billion per year to drive healthcare innovation and improve care, CMMI has failed to deliver for taxpayers and consumers. In the last decade, CMMI has launched more than 50 model tests. From 2018 to 2020, CMMI models have reached nearly 28 million patients and more than 528,000 health care providers and plans. Of these model tests, only six have generated statistically significant savings for Medicare and, by extension, taxpayers.  

Most troublingly, CMMI has evolved into a tool for implementing national healthcare policies without Congressional approval. In December, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a pair of new mandatory payment models that bear a troubling resemblance to President Trump’s recent implementation of a Most Favored Nation (MFN) approach. Echoing the President’s Executive Order, the Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing (GLOBE) and Guarding U.S. Medicare Against Rising Drug Costs (GUARD) models tie the prices of drugs payable under Medicare Parts B and D to those in foreign countries with socialized healthcare systems. These models are nothing more than destructive price control schemes that will hinder research and development and distort the marketplace through overreaching government intervention, ultimately harming patients. Ending these price controls will require finally defunding CMMI.

Conclusion

This Tax Day, Congress can deliver real relief to taxpayers by cutting unnecessary spending and holding agency bureaucrats accountable. The soaring national debt should be a wake-up call for Washington to reverse course—and fast.