Sen. James Lankford released his annual federal government waste and solutions report on Monday detailing the arguably ridiculous things the government spent money on.
“Our $20 trillion national debt will continue to increase until we implement spending cuts, government reforms, and create a healthy economy. This Federal Fumbles report provides commonsense examples of ways to limit our spending and fix government inefficiency,” Mr. Lankford, Oklahoma Republican, said in a statement.
There is over $473 billion in wasteful spending listed in the report.
The items on this year’s “Federal Fumbles” list include $2.3 million researching forms of exercise that best led to weight loss in seniors, $20,000 for adult summer art camp focused on climate change and $2.6 million spent on chimpanzees that were previously used for biomedical testing.
The National Institute for Health recently stopped the testing on chimpanzees and created a National Center for Chimpanzee Care to continued to take care of the animals.
The report also lists possible ways the funding, much of which was allocated years ago, could be better spent. For example, the report suggests giving the chimpanzees to an animal sanctuary or zoo where they can continue to be cared for without costing the taxpayers.
This is his third volume of Mr. Lankford’s own government waste support.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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