Federal government spends $332B on ‘zombie programs’ never reauthorized by Congress
“If Congress is not exercising its oversight authority, we will have more waste fraud and abuse. Maybe the expired programs are not wasteful, but how would we know if Congress isn’t doing its job?” Jonathan Bydlak, director of governance at the R Street Institute, told Fox News. “An entire program may not be wasteful, but a function within that department might be. We don’t know because Congress doesn’t have a process in place to evaluate its relevance.”
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The way the government gets to $23 trillion in debt is by adding a bunch of little items at a time, noted Bydlak, of the R Street Institute. The problem in passing the USA Act, he said, is that many in Congress would prefer to take fewer votes on the federal budget that would make them accountable to voters.
“Arguably, a majority of members of Congress would love to see the government run entirely on autopilot. Congress has abdicated so much authority to the executive,” Bydlak said. “With fewer policies in the legislative process, members of Congress will have less accountability for outcomes.”
