Rand Paul Releases ‘Festivus Report’ Detailing $1.6 Trillion in Government Waste

by Zachary Mettler | December 26, 2025 | Government Updates

U.S. Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky, is airing his grievances with Washington, D.C., in his annual “Festivus Report,” detailing the federal government’s waste of $1.6 trillion in 2025.

“‘Tis the season for FESTIVUS,” the senator posted on X. “This year’s waste report tallies an UNBELIEVABLE $1,639,135,969,608.”

“Read the report, air your grievances, and let us know which items are your favorite,” he added.

The senator’s tradition is a spin on Festivus; a secular holiday celebrated on December 23. It includes an “airing of grievances” and was popularized in 1997 by the television show Seinfeld.

The Festivus Report 2025 details the largest waste of taxpayer dollars this year came in the form of interest payments – totaling $1.22 trillion – on the federal government’s massive and unsustainable $38 trillion debt.

“Last Festivus, we clamored over the national debt reaching over an astronomical $36 trillion,” the 11th annual report states. “Shockingly, in one short year, the career politicians and bureaucrats in Washington have managed to reach nearly $40 trillion in debt.”

The report continues,

The Congressional Budget Office predicts we will add an average of $2.39 trillion in debt annually for the next decade.
The U.S. government will add over $6.53 billion of debt every single day for the next ten years. We borrow over $272 million every hour, we borrow $4.54 million every minute, and we borrow over $75,000 every second.

The national debate now equates to $329,646 owed by every American taxpayer – a number which grows by the minute.

While interest on the national debt sucks up unimaginable amounts of cash, the report lists multiple other ways federal government agencies wasted billions of Americans’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars. The list would be amusing, if the government were wasting monopoly money – not our real cash.

According to the report:

  • The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spent $1.5 million on an “innovative multilevel strategy” to reduce drug use in “Latinx” communities through celebrity influencer campaigns.
  • The Department of State gave $244,252 to Stand for Peace in Islamabad to produce a television series teaching kids in Pakistan how to fight climate change.
  • The Department of Agriculture (USDA) spent $141,517 to create a “resilient and equitable” local food network prioritizing culturally relevant food for low-income “LGBT people” of color in the Bronx and Brooklyn.
  • HHS gave $3.3 million to Northwestern University to hire 15 people, erect “scientific neighborhoods,” install “safe space ambassadors” and form communities to “dismantle systemic racism.”
  • HHS spent $936,000 on marketing campaigns and engagement strategies targeting subcultures in Los Angeles – like the “bear/cub,” “drag queen” and “queer punk rock” scenes – about STD testing and treatment capacity.
  • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent $13.8 million extending funding for Dr. Anthony Fauci’s beagle experiments.
  • The NIH spent over $5 million to dose dogs with cocaine.
  • The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) blew over $1 million to teach teenage ferrets to binge drink alcohol.
  • The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) squandered $2 million on “transgender” medical interventions, activism and influence campaigns in Guatemala.
  • The Department of War (DOW) funded $2,818,462 in grants that paid for aborted human fetal tissue to be implanted in humanized mice.

“Congress keeps shoveling money toward pet projects and special interests while hardworking Americans pay the price through inflation and crushing interest rates,” the report states.

Thankfully, the Trump administration acted this year to reduce or eliminate some of the government’s most profligate programs.

On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order pausing all U.S. foreign aid for 90 days while the programs were reviewed. Following the review, 83% of USAID’s programs were cut, with the rest moved to the Department of State.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio touted the success of the move on December 20, saying, “This new era of foreign assistance eliminates extreme ideological projects that previous administrations forced the American people to subsidize, cuts out the wasteful NGO industrial complex, and puts the American people first.”

Nevertheless, the national debt continues to increase every year, placing a massive fiscal burden on future generations. Our nation’s leaders must do better.

In Proverbs 22:7, we read, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender” (ESV). And Proverbs 13:22 teaches, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children” (ESV).

Our politicians in Congress could use a remedial lesson in fiscal responsibility from the Good Book.

Related articles and resources:

Senator Releases Annual ‘Festivus Report’ Chronicling $1 Trillion in Government Waste

Senator Releases Report Chronicling Waste of $900 Billion Taxpayer Dollars in 2023

Taxpayer Money for Beagle Puppies, Romancing Parrots, and Fighting Hamsters, Oh My!

$1.5 Million to Walk Lizards on Treadmills? Ten Crazy Things Uncle Sam Spent Your Money on This Year

Photo from Getty Images.