Joni Ernst Moves to Axe Unused Government Programs

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) proposed Thursday to axe unused government programs in her latest proposal to eliminate federal waste, fraud, and abuse.

As Democrats remain poised to vote on trillions of dollars of infrastructure spending, Ernst discussed the need to eliminate unused government funding to reduce the federal deficit.

U.S. President Joe Biden gives a speech on his Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal and Build Back Better Agenda at the NJ Transit Meadowlands Maintenance Complex on October 25, 2021, in Kearny, New Jersey. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Sunday that she expects Democrats to have an “agreement” on a framework for the social safety net plan and a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill in the next week. The reconciliation package was slated at first to cost $3.5 trillion. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The Iowa conservative noted that the U.S. Enrichment Corporation Fund, which she said fulfilled its mission to privatize nuclear enrichment decades ago, still receives $1.5 billion in taxpayer funding.

The Presidential Election Campaign Fund has not supported a single candidate in five years but still has $400 million in idle funding. Ernst said tens of millions are added every year.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires every state to offer health insurance plans through the Multi-State Plan, which costs tens of millions of dollars to administer and does not provide coverage in any state due to lack of participation from any state.

Arkansas was the only state to even attempt to participate with the Multi-State Plan but did not end up administering a Multi-State Plan.

Subsequently, Ernst sponsored legislation to repeal these three programs.

This is a no brainer. #MakeEmSqueal 🎃 pic.twitter.com/g1Ngm9EKaW

— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) October 28, 2021

Ernst also proposed the Zombie Programs Survival Guide Act, which would require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to provide a hit list of other government programs that continue past their lifespan.

Asked by Breitbart News as to why Democrats would pursue billions of dollars in tax increases to pay for their infrastructure bills rather than find government waste, Ernst said:

It takes a lot of work to ferret out waste, fraud, abuse, potential savings, from the federal government, and they don’t want to do that. I mean, it’s just it is easier to raise taxes on the American taxpayer and just force everybody to pay for these programs rather than doing the right thing. And I get so discouraged when I see that type of activity, knowing there are solutions out there; we’ve got to work for those solutions. I think people would appreciate Congress much more if they knew we were really paying attention to their dollars rather than being so wasteful.

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.