{"id":2394236,"date":"2025-01-23T09:37:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T14:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ernst-introduces-bill-to-end-wasteful-spending-on-government-ads-and-mascots-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-01-23T09:38:02","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T14:38:02","slug":"ernst-introduces-bill-to-end-wasteful-spending-on-government-ads-and-mascots-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ernst-introduces-bill-to-end-wasteful-spending-on-government-ads-and-mascots-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Ernst introduces bill to end \u2018wasteful spending\u2019 on government ads and mascots &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fernst-introduces-bill-to-end-wasteful-spending-on-government-ads-and-mascots-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2394236&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) has introduced a bill known as the SWAG Act (Stop Wasteful advertising by the Government)\u200d aimed at eliminating what \u2062she describes \u2063as &#8220;wasteful spending&#8221; on\u2062 government advertising, mascots,\u200d and\u2062 associated items.\u200b Ernst \u2064argues that such\u200d expenditures\u2014amounting\u200d to approximately $1.8 billion \u2064annually\u2014serve as government propaganda rather \u200dthan\u2062 beneficial public outreach. In her statements, she condemns \u200cthis spending as a distraction from the governmentS primary \u200cresponsibilities, insisting that taxpayer money should not fund frivolous items or projects. The\u200c bill \u200creflects her\u200d commitment to reducing\u2064 needless costs to taxpayers and improving governmental accountability.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Ernst introduces bill to end &lsquo;wasteful spending&rsquo; on government ads and mascots<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1944126\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joni-ernst\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Joni Ernst\">Joni Ernst<\/a> (R-IA) introduced a bill to end &ldquo;wasteful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/government-spending\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"spending\">spending<\/a>&rdquo; on government <a href=\"https:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"ads\">ads<\/a>, mascots, and related subjects.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Ernst&rsquo;s Stop Wasteful Advertising by the Government, or SWAG, Act aims to stop spending on &ldquo;government propaganda, taxpayer-funded trinkets, and mascots.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Misbehaving bureaucrats will do anything but their jobs &mdash; including spending billions on propaganda, mascots, and swag &mdash; to gaslight the public into believing the government is working on their behalf,&rdquo;&nbsp;Ernst said in a statement to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.&nbsp;&ldquo;No more trinkets and trash and putting taxpayers last. I am breaking out my red marker, ending the costume parties, and slamming shut the coloring books.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-government-spent-118k-to-study-if-marvel-character-could-really-snap-his-fingers\/\" title=\"Federal Government Spends 8k on Study to See if Marvel Character Really Can Snap His Fingers\">federal government spends <\/a>.8 billion annually on &ldquo;advertising,&rdquo; something that appears to be first on the chopping block for the Department of Government Efficiency. This budget has more than doubled since 2018, according to a white paper from Rebuild Local News. The paper complained of a &ldquo;debilitating lack of transparency&rdquo; in how the advertising money is spent.<\/p>\n<p>Ernst, founder of the Senate DOGE Caucus, ceded that much of the advertising goes to military recruitment and other useful efforts but also contains a large amount of frivolous spending.<\/p>\n<p>Her office provided several examples, including a &ldquo;creepy mascot&rdquo; for the Department of Agriculture: an <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">anthropomorphic insect named &#038;ldquo<\/a>;Vin Vasive&rdquo; who talks about the dangers of invasive species in a video released by the agency. While a new video was released in 2023, his appearances go as far back as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2iZda5T-ICg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"2014\">2014<\/a>, when he appeared as a man in a costume.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"_dMaiRs_kIQ\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Vin-troduction Video (English)\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_dMaiRs_kIQ?start=5&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Another example was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/flu-resources\/graphic-novel\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"graphic novel\">graphic novel<\/a> created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USDA, and 4-H, titled <em>The Junior Disease Detectives: Operation Outbreak<\/em>. The book is intended to be used in classrooms.<\/p>\n<p>The office also highlighted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-04\/220314_DHS%20Coloring%20Book_508_0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"coloring book\">coloring book<\/a> for children of Department of Homeland Security personnel.<\/p>\n<p>One of Ernst&rsquo;s primary focuses as DOGE Caucus co-chairwoman has been highlighting waste due to government telework, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3296080\/joni-ernst-celebrates-trump-executive-order-federal-workers-end-telework\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"helping\">helping<\/a> to lead to President Donald Trump signing an executive order ending federal telework as one of his first actions as president.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For&nbsp;years, I&rsquo;ve been exposing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joni-ernst-celebrates-trumps-executive-order-to-end-telework-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Joni Ernst celebrates Trump&#039;s executive order to end telework - Washington Examiner\">broken federal workforce<\/a> and fighting to make Washington squeal. With President Trump back in the White House, taxpayers everywhere see he is already delivering on his promises to drain the swamp on Day One,&rdquo;&nbsp;she said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;President Trump and I will happily tell any bureaucrat who does not wish to return to the office, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re fired.&rsquo; Today is a tremendous step in getting Washington back to work and serving the American people, and we are just getting started,&rdquo; Ernst added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1944126\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1944126\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ernst proposes bill to eliminate wasteful government ad spending<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2653,"featured_media":2394238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ernst-.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[11232,49064,4762,49065,47119],"class_list":["post-2394236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ernst","tag-government-ads","tag-legislation","tag-mascots","tag-wasteful-spending"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ernst-.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2394236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2394236"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2394236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2394240,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2394236\/revisions\/2394240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2394238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2394236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2394236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2394236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}