Waste, Fraud and Abuse
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With $500 million at risk, Brown University escalates probe of student journalist for mini-DOGE
Ivy League school makes public some of the employee information it accused Alex Shieh of "improperly" using, civil liberties group says. Threat letter says he spread false information, without noting it's from New York Times.
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You Vote: With Musk planning to step back considerably from his role with DOGE, has he succeeded?
Musk initially said DOGE would aim to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, but he later cut that in half. At a Cabinet meeting earlier this month, Musk said DOGE was on pace to cut $150 billion from the federal budget.
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Hack and DOGE? Ivy League school puts student journalist on notice for administrative 'bloat' review
Brown University allegedly told Alex Shieh, of the soon-to-relaunch Brown Spectator, to keep the investigation a secret. Someone sent Shieh his SSN, a perceived doxing threat, after he asked administrators what they do.
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HHS spends hundreds of thousands funding study of non-heterosexual women who drink and use Facebook
The study's goal is to use Facebook to examine the discrepancies between the drinking habits of heterosexual and non-heterosexual women
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NASA doles out half a million in taxpayer dollars for far-out alien detection program at Georgetown
The District of Columbia receives more taxpayer-funded grant dollars per-person than any other city in the country.
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Billions potentially went to fraudulent applicants in SBA's coronavirus relief program, report
At the height of the pandemic, the SBA 'lowered the guardrails' that prevent fraud, according to the inspector general report.
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The Money Pit: Watchdog chronicles $19 billion wasted in Afghan reconstruction effort
In a blistering new report, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has documented billions in aid dollars spent "carelessly, extravagantly, or to no purpose."
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FCC paid $27 million to fraudulent Hawaiian communications company
The FCC is now fining the company $50 million, and the owner has been sentenced to time in prison.
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Postal Service, now under fire, vastly overspent on its employee relocation program
The USPS diverged from typical government models to calculate its employee relocation budget plan.
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Department of Veterans Affairs overpaid Choice Act healthcare costs by $132 million
A new OIG report details the systematic lack attention paid to the third-party administrator reimbursement process.
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Taken for ride? D.C. paid $5 million in improper charges for late, overbudget streetcars
City's "project managers lacked the expertise to review and approve invoices for payments," according to the IG report, relying instead "on the prime contractor to certify the accuracy of invoices for payment."
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After losing $1.7 billion on timber sales over 40 years, Forest Service looks to expand program
"It actually costs taxpayers millions to 'sell' timber that we collectively own, which makes no sense," said Autumn Hanna, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense.
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Federal government spent $91 billion last September during annual 'use-it-or-lose-it' period
In the final month of their 2019 fiscal year, the federal government spent $91 billion on last-minute contracts, including $40 million on catfish, $3.7 million on musical instruments, and $53 million on batteries