Category: squeal award

Billions in Untracked Federal Grants Going to China, Russia for Cat Experiments, Wuhan Lab Research: Ernst

Hundreds of millions of American tax dollars went to recipients in China and Russia in recent years without being properly tracked by the federal government, including a grant that enabled a state-run Russian lab to test cats on treadmills, according to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). Ernst and her staff investigators, working with auditors at the…


US Sent Billions in Funding to China, Russia for Cat Experiments, Wuhan Lab Research: Ernst

Hundreds of millions of American tax dollars went to recipients in China and Russia in recent years without being properly tracked by the federal government, including a grant that enabled a state-run Russian lab to test cats on treadmills, according to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). Ernst and her staff investigators, working with auditors at the…


Ernst Gives Biden ‘Squeal Award’ for Sending Billions in Federal Tax Dollars to California Rail Projects

On the same day President Joe Biden is expected officially to announce he is seeking reelection in 2024, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is giving the chief executive her latest Squeal Award—this one for the billions of tax dollars being wasted by “the Biden Boondoggle Express” on costly California commuter rail projects. “Folks, your tax dollars…


Ernst Gives Latest ‘Squeal Award’ to HHS for Failing to Bar Federal Funding of Wuhan Lab, as Recommended by Watchdog

Feb. 14 may be a day for romantic gifts, but that’s not what Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) gave Secretary Xavier Becerra and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for failing to bar China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) from receiving any more federal funds. The Iowa Republican gave Becerra and HHS her latest…


Ernst Squeal Award to Biden for Grant to Hackers Group That Creates ‘Enemies Lists’ of Policy Critics

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) gave her final Squeal Award of 2022 to President Joe Biden for the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) grant to an obscure group that rates U.S. media outlets and individuals on social media on the basis of how strongly they back federal policies. “The Biden administration is paying more than $5 million…


Ernst Demands IRS Watchdog Audit Federal Agency’s Hiring and Re-Hiring Tax Cheats

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) wants Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) J. Russell George to audit the staff hiring and re-hiring practices of the IRS as the federal tax agency moves to double its workforce with President Joe Biden’s blessing. The Iowa Republican told George in an Aug. 24 letter that her request was…


Ernst ‘Squeal Award’ Goes to National Capital’s Purple Line, a ‘Billion-Dollar Boondoggle’

Calling it a “billion-dollar boondoggle,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) named a chronically over-budget and behind-schedule public transportation project in the nation’s capital as the winner of her latest Squeal Award highlighting waste and fraud in government spending. “The National Capital Purple Line, which was supposed to connect Washington D.C.’s subway lines in the Maryland suburbs,…


Sen. Ernst Demands Agencies Stop End-of-Year Spending Sprees

Federal agencies again went on wasteful “use-it-or-lose-it” spending sprees in 2020 but still ended the year with more than $800 billion in unspent funds, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said Tuesday, and she expects they will repeat that performance come September 2021. “The federal government ends every fiscal year with a mountain of unspent money. The total…