Citizens Against Government Waste Releases $4 Trillion in Prime Waste-Cutting Recommendations

Today, at the beginning of fiscal year (FY) 2022, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released Prime Cuts 2021, the latest edition of the group’s comprehensive recommendations to eliminate waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the federal government.

Here are the facts:

• Prime Cuts has been published annually since 1993 and addresses every area of government spending.
• Total savings from Prime Cuts 2021 are $370.1 billion in the first year and $4 trillion over five years.
• There are 580 recommendations from bipartisan and nonpartisan sources, including the Government Accountability Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the budgets of former Presidents Trump and Obama.
• Since CAGW’s inception in 1984, implementation of the group’s recommendations has helped to save taxpayers more than $2.3 trillion.

Prime Cuts 2021 includes the following recommendations:

• Eliminate the Market Access Program (MAP), a corporate welfare program that funnels taxpayer dollars to large, profitable corporations and trade associations, saving $875 million over five years.
• Eliminate earmarks for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, saving $8.5 billion over five years. The F-35 is currently $195 billion over budget and is on pace to become the most expensive weapon system in history, with an estimated lifetime cost of $1.7 trillion.
• Eliminate Community Development Block Grants (CDBGs). Former President Obama recommended reducing funding for CDBGs because “outcomes are difficult to measure and evaluate,” and President Trump’s FY 2021 budget proposed eliminating the program altogether, saving $17.3 billion over five years.
• Eliminate the sugar, dairy, and peanut programs, which would collectively save $6.7 billion over five years.
• Sell excess federal property and reform leasing practices, saving $15 billion over five years.
• Reduce Medicare improper payments by 50 percent, which would save $21.5 billion over five years.

CAGW President Tom Schatz said in a statement:

“The fiscal status of the United States is shameful and chilling. The national debt has reached a catastrophic $28.8 trillion and will grow at a record pace over the next decade. Congress has allocated $5.7 trillion for COVID-19 “relief,” much of which was not related to the pandemic, and one trillion dollars of which has not been spent at all. The only way to rein in excessive and inefficient government spending is for elected officials to reduce waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. Prime Cuts 2021 is not only required reading for taxpayers, the media, and legislators, it is also a roadmap for the bold action needed to restore fiscal sanity and help prevent a financial disaster.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.

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