Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are tasked with reducing the $6,750,000,000,000 the federal government spends in 2024 under its new regulations. Department of Public Efficiency (DOGE).

The group will work outside the government to “eliminate red tape, cut excessive regulations, cut wasteful spending, and restructure federal agencies,” according to a statement from President-elect Donald Trump. John Hart, CEO of Watchdog Open BooksThe organization, which tracks financial waste, told The Post they would limit “spending that is on autopilot with no real thought or purpose behind it.”

Finding areas to cut is not difficult; Many jaw-dropping examples are acknowledged in the government’s own reports. Here are some of the first gravy trains expected to derail:

Dead people make money

In 2023, the federal government sent $1.3 billion in checks to deceased people from the IRS, Medicare and various veterans groups. According to RealClear Investigations.

According to Hart, this could have easily been stopped. “The Treasury Department has a no-pay list. All of these people must be involved. But there is no cross-checking between the paying institutions and the Treasury,” he said.

Benefits behind bars

Prisoners still considered free and unemployed received $171 million in unemployment payments or Social Security in 2023. Medicaid and Medicare also sent $101 billion in improper payments, largely due to fraud, and tax frauds cost the IRS at least $546 million.

Russian cat research

In 2021, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded $549,000 to a Russian laboratory that conducted experiments on cats, including removing part of their brains and seeing if they could still walk on a treadmill. According to the Washington Times.

Biden’s Ireland craze

According to The Post, American taxpayers spent $4 million last year for Joe and Hunter Biden to go on a trip to Ireland. This included $1.2 million spent on an elaborate sound system and light show for Biden’s speech and $760,000 to rent an entire hotel in Dublin.

50 million dollar monkey business

NIH’s spending includes $33 million to a firm that operates “Monkey Island,” a colony of about 3,000 primates shipped to research laboratories. Additionally, NIH funded a total of $3.7 million for a study on monkeys and gambling. Some of the other $12 million went to the University of Mississippi to test monkeys for methamphetamine, and a Florida lab received $477,000 to help fund research into “transsexual” monkeys in which males are injected with female hormones.

We are still paying the price of the epidemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is over, but spending hasn’t stopped; FEMA expects to spend another $70 billion on the pandemic by August 2026. Meanwhile, Dr. Despite his retirement, Anthony Fauci is taking $15 million worth of security measures this year. . “He basically has a limo driver and armed guards,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told The Post. “Presidents understand this for a while, but they are the only people in our country who understand this.”

Drag shows in Ecuador

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave a grant of $20,600 to a center in Ecuador in 2022. scout at USAspending.gov. This grant was used for “12 drag theater performances” and a “two-minute documentary” Fox News reported.

vacant federal buildings

Federal agencies use an average of 12% of the space in their headquarters, according to a report published in March. Public Buildings Reform Board. The General Services Administration spends $2 billion a year maintaining government offices and $5 billion renting space.

DEI is outraged

As reported by Open the Books, the Department of Health and Human Services hired 294 employees to oversee Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at a cost of $38.7 million.

declarations to china

The State Department transferred approximately $58.7 million to China between 2017 and 2022, according to Open the Books. Approximately $100,000 of this was used to promote ‘Gender Equality’ using New Yorker magazine cartoons.

Weaponizing the EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency shot itself in the foot by spending $620,000 on weapons and ammunition, including bulletproof armor, night vision equipment and military-grade weapons, none of which, critics say, are necessary.

IRS tax evaders

Even those who work for the IRS do not lead by example. Between October 2021 and October 2023, IRS employees owed $50 million in unpaid taxes. However, only 20 employees were dismissed due to their applications. “If IRS employees don’t know how to pay their taxes, how are the rest of us supposed to do it?” said Hart.

dark research

The National Endowment for the Humanities spends hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on obscure studies. Their January 2024 grants only More than $350,000 was awarded for research and writing books on the following topics: the history of Muslim-Chinese encounters in Asia from the 1360s to the 1640s; The historical and sociological impact of liver disease in Egypt and the nature of imprisonment in England from 1550 to 1800.

TOTAL WASTE: 386 billion