Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) is continuing her quest to expose wasteful government spending from her perch on the Small Business Committee.
Ernst unveiled her plans to commemorate Sunshine Week exclusively to the Washington Reporter. At the top of her list is an upcoming hearing that she will host in order to both expose and stop fraud waste and abuse in the federal government.
“As I always say, if you can’t find waste in Washington, there can only be one reason: you didn’t look,” Ernst told the Reporter. “While Washington seems permanently in the dark, I’m putting the spotlight on government spending this Sunshine Week. I’m grateful for folks like White Coat Waste, Open the Books, and the Government Accountability Office, who are dedicated to shining the light on how every single cent of taxpayer dollars is spent. Together, we will hold the government accountable to make all government expenditures public, as required by law, because without transparency, there is no accountability.”
Her witness list was also obtained exclusively by the Reporter; she will bring in John Hart, the CEO, Open the Books; Justin Goodman, Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Public Policy at the White Coat Waste Project; and Jeff Arkin from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Goodman told the Reporter that “White Coat Waste is honored to testify at Senator Ernst’s Sunshine Week hearing about our work to expose and end wasteful government spending on beagle testing and uncover other waste, fraud, and abuse at the Small Business Administration and other agencies like the National Institutes of Health.
“In collaboration with Senator Ernst, White Coat Waste’s investigations have exposed and stopped reckless taxpayer-funded projects at home and abroad,” Goodman added, “including Dr. Fauci’s funding for the Wuhan lab and beagle experiments, and revealed violations of transparency laws like the COST Act. Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent, and I look forward to testifying next week about how transparency protects both tax dollars and beagles from abuse.”
Ernst first rose to national prominence by promising to make “big spenders” in Washington, D.C. “squeal.” For years as a senator, Ernst has paid homage to the ad that helped elect her in the first place by giving out a “Squeal Award” each month. But she’s done more than give awards to highlight wasteful spending.
For years, Ernst has worked to increase transparency when it comes to how taxpayer dollars are spent. In 2021, her COST Act became law; the legislation requires projects financed by many agencies — including the Pentagon — to include a public price tag displaying the cost to taxpayers.
Even more recently, her Billion Dollar Boondoggle legislation passed the Senate last year; that bill requires transportation and infrastructure projects that are either over budget or five years or more behind schedule to be reported to the public every year.
