ICYMI: Ernst Slamming the Brakes on Off the Rails Boondoggles
WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) released a bombshell report last week exposing taxpayer-funded boondoggles that are more than $1 billion over budget or five years behind schedule.
While the report exposed $162.9 billion in total cost overruns, Ernst is working with Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to claw back $14 billion that has yet to be spent and return the funds to the American people.
Click here to view the report and check out some of the coverage below.
“Ernst's report, which Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy endorsed in a statement Wednesday, underscores the extent to which taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects often turn into money holes that swallow more government dollars than anticipated.”
“Senate DOGE Caucus Chairwoman Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, shared with Fox News Digital her report that uses California’s decadeslong high-speed-rail project as a boondoggle benchmark and laid out details of every federal infrastructure project that is also either more than $1 billion over budget, five years past deadline or both.”
Daily Caller | Joni Ernst Has Long List Of Taxpayer-Funded Boondoggles She Wants To Place On Trump Admin Chopping Board
“Ernst told the Daily Caller News Foundation that after the Trump administration yanked funding for California’s high-speed rail project, there were more projects to scrutinize.”
NY Post | Taxpayers on hook for $163B in project overruns, including $1.4B for NYC rail junction, Senate report shows
“The scathing 48-page report from Sen. Joni Ernst’s office included in its hall of shame the expansion of the Harold Interlocking Junction in Long Island City, meant to streamline rail travel between Boston, the Big Apple, and out east.”
Daily Signal | ‘BOONDOGGLES’: See Where the Biggest Wastes of Tax Dollars Are Going, Besides Just California
“While President Donald Trump nixed funding for California’s ‘train to nowhere’ taxpayers remain on the hook for other projects that are billions of dollars over budget and more than a decade behind schedule, according to a new Senate report.”
NY Post | Ernst highlights a major problem: Cost overruns are no big thing in Washington
“Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell should be thanking Sen. Joni Ernst: The cost overruns her team dug up on mismanaged government projects make the Fed’s renovation overspending look almost modest.”
Daily Caller | Joni Ernst Asks Trump Admin To Yank $14 Billion From Boondoggle Projects
“One program Ernst singled out in the letter, the Honolulu Rail Transit Project, not only saw a cost overrun of $4.8 billion since it started in 2012, but its projected completion slipped from 2020 to 2031 in the process. Another program Ernst listed, the Purple Line for the Washington Metro, is $3.1 billion over budget and delayed by more than five years, and is expected to not be finished before February 2028.”
Washington Stand | 5 Major Federally-Funded Rail Projects Are More than $23 Billion Over Budget, 12 Years Behind Schedule: Ernst
“California’s High-Speed Rail Project (HSRP) to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco is $13 billion over-budget and 11 to 12 years behind schedule, but that widely publicized boondoggle is far from unique among major transportation projects getting federal tax dollars, according to a new report made public by Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).”
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