25 Of The Most Baffling Ways The American Government Is Spending Its Money
Every April, millions of Americans file their taxes and hand over a significant chunk of their earnings to the federal government. Most people accept this as part of living in a functioning society — roads need paving, schools need funding, and national security doesn’t come cheap. But what happens when your hard-earned dollars get funneled into projects that leave you scratching your head?
The U.S. federal government spent approximately $6.13 trillion in fiscal year 2023, with a deficit of $1.7 trillion. Against that backdrop, a few million here and there might sound like rounding errors. But the examples below aren’t just about the dollar amounts — they’re about priorities, accountability, and the kind of decision-making that makes ordinary taxpayers do a double-take. According to a 2023 Cato Institute survey, 66% of Americans believe there is considerable waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending. After reading this list, you’ll understand why.
From a $400 billion fighter jet that can’t fly in bad weather to a scientific study on why monkeys like to gamble, these are 25 of the most baffling ways the American government has spent taxpayer money. Some are funny. Some are infuriating. All of them are real.
A Brief Note on Government Spending and “Waste”
Before diving into the list, it’s worth acknowledging that “wasteful spending” isn’t always black and white. The federal budget divides into mandatory spending (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid), discretionary spending (defense, education, infrastructure), and interest on the national debt. Within discretionary spending, individual agencies receive allocations that fund everything from cutting-edge medical research to, as you’re about to discover, robotic squirrels.
Oversight bodies like the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and agency Inspectors General exist specifically to flag misuse of funds. And yet, year after year, eye-popping examples of questionable expenditure make headlines. Here’s why: bureaucratic inertia, the “use it or lose it” budget mentality, weak inter-agency oversight, and the sheer complexity of the federal machine all contribute to money flowing in directions that seem, at best, baffling.
The 25 Most Baffling Ways The American Government Is Spending Its Money
1. The F-35 Fighter Jet Program: $400 Billion and Counting
Let’s start big. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is arguably the most expensive weapons system in history, costing taxpayers more than $400 billion through 2015 alone — and costs have only climbed since. Despite the staggering price tag, the jet has been plagued by design flaws, software glitches, and chronic delays. In some configurations, it couldn’t fly in certain weather conditions or communicate securely with other aircraft. In 2015 alone, the Pentagon spent $12 billion on this troubled program. The F-35 remains in service today, but critics argue the return on investment has been deeply underwhelming.
2. $10 Million to Study Duck Penises
The National Science Foundation spent $10 million studying the evolution of duck penises and the sexual anatomy of other waterfowl. The research, which examined how female ducks have evolved defenses against unwanted mating, was criticized sharply by Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona as a textbook example of wasteful federal spending. Scientists argue it contributes to evolutionary biology — but most taxpayers would argue there are better uses for $10 million.
3. A $20 Million “Ghost Hospital” in Afghanistan
USAID spent $20 million constructing a hospital in Afghanistan that was completed in 2012 — and then never used. The facility sat empty due to a complete lack of qualified medical staff and necessary equipment. Nobody had planned for operations after the construction phase. This “ghost hospital” became a symbol of the broader failure of U.S. development projects abroad, where billions were poured into infrastructure with no sustainable plan for what came after.
4. $3 Million for a Civil War Video Game
The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded a $3 million grant to a university to develop a video game about the Civil War. The stated goal was to make history more engaging for students — an admirable aim in theory. In practice, critics questioned whether a $3 million game development budget was the most effective way to educate young people about one of America’s most significant conflicts, especially when public school budgets are being cut across the country.
5. $1 Million for an IRS Reality TV Show That Never Aired
The IRS once spent $1 million producing a reality television show about its own employees. The goal was ostensibly to improve the agency’s battered public image. The show never aired. The project was quietly shelved, leaving behind nothing but a million-dollar production bill and a PR problem that arguably got worse once the spending became public knowledge.
6. $2.6 Million for a Musical About Climate Change
The National Science Foundation funded a $2.6 million musical production centered on climate change. The idea was to use art to communicate environmental science to broader audiences — a concept that has merit in theory. But handing $2.6 million to a theatrical production to make climate messaging more Broadway-friendly is exactly the kind of line item that sends fiscal conservatives into orbit.
7. A $500,000 “Smart Toilet”
The National Institutes of Health spent half a million dollars developing a “smart toilet” capable of analyzing human waste for biomarkers related to various diseases. While there may be legitimate medical applications for such technology down the line, $500,000 for a prototype toilet struck many observers as a hard investment to defend, particularly when millions of Americans lack basic healthcare access.
8. $1.5 Million to Watch Fish on Treadmills
The National Science Foundation approved $1.5 million to study how fish swim on treadmills. Researchers placed fish on specially designed aquatic treadmills to analyze muscle function and locomotion. Scientists contend the data has applications for understanding aquatic ecosystems and fish physiology. Taxpayers, however, tended to see a lot of money spent on watching fish exercise.
9. $1.7 Million for a Robotic Squirrel
The Department of Defense allocated $1.7 million to build a robotic squirrel — specifically designed to study how squirrels use tail movements to deter rattlesnakes. The stated endgame involved potential applications in robotic surveillance and defense technology. Whether a robot squirrel will ever protect national security remains, for now, an open question.
10. $387,000 to Study Hamsters on Steroids
Researchers received $387,000 in federal funding to study how to get hamsters to take anabolic steroids — and what happened to their aggression levels when they did. The study aimed to understand the behavioral effects of performance-enhancing drugs. The headline, however, did not do the federal science budget any favors.
11. $1.5 Million on Why Monkeys Choose to Gamble
A separate allocation of $1.5 million went toward studying why monkeys make gambling-like decisions. By observing primate risk-assessment behavior, researchers hoped to gain insights into human decision-making and addiction. It’s a legitimate scientific line of inquiry — but “why do monkeys gamble” is a headline that writes itself, and not in a flattering way for the agencies that signed the check.
12. $100,000 to Scan Gamblers’ Brains
The National Science Foundation spent $100,000 using functional MRI technology to observe the brain activity of human gamblers in real time. While neuroscience research has led to genuine breakthroughs, critics questioned the public benefit of this particular study and whether the findings justified the cost to taxpayers.
13. $300,000 to Study Pigeon Social Lives
The National Institutes of Health funded a $300,000 project to study the social interactions and behavioral patterns of pigeons. Pigeon behavior has been studied for decades. The scientific community has learned a great deal from these birds. Whether another $300,000 study was the best use of NIH funding is a question that didn’t get a satisfying answer.
14. $200,000 for a Congressional Staffer Dating App
Reports indicate that federal grant money — approximately $200,000 — was directed toward developing a dating app exclusively for congressional staffers. The rationale was that it would help build better interpersonal relationships on Capitol Hill. The reaction from the general public was, predictably, not positive.
15. $10 Million for a “Smart City” in New Mexico That Was Never Built
The Department of Energy invested $10 million into creating a “Smart City” in New Mexico — a high-tech urban testing ground for cutting-edge technologies. The project never fully materialized. The land sits largely unused, the technology was never deployed at scale, and the $10 million is gone. It’s a cautionary tale about ambitious government tech projects that lack proper planning and follow-through.
16. $856,000 to Train Mountain Lions to Run on Treadmills
In a striking echo of the fish treadmill study, researchers received over $856,000 to study mountain lion locomotion — which required training the big cats to walk and run on treadmills. The study was aimed at understanding mountain lion hunting mechanics. Whether taxpayers needed to foot that bill remains a point of contention.
17. $2.5 Million to Promote U.S. Tourism… in the United States
The federal government spent approximately $2.5 million on a campaign to encourage Americans to vacation within the United States — a country they already live in. While domestic tourism is economically beneficial, spending millions of taxpayer dollars to encourage people to visit their own country raised more than a few eyebrows.
18. $50 Million in Unused Government IT Equipment
The GAO has repeatedly flagged the federal government’s tendency to purchase information technology equipment that is never used. Across multiple agencies, hundreds of millions in IT hardware and software have been procured, installed, and then left to gather dust. One review found over $50 million in completely unused equipment in a single fiscal year across a handful of agencies.
19. Millions in Benefits Paid to Dead People
The Social Security Administration and the Office of Personnel Management have both come under fire for paying out benefits to deceased recipients. GAO investigations have uncovered millions of dollars sent annually to individuals who are no longer alive — a result of inadequate cross-referencing between agency databases and death records.
20. $400,000 on a Government-Issued Scooter Program That Barely Moved
A federally funded initiative designed to provide electric scooters to government employees for last-mile commuting spent roughly $400,000 on scooter purchases and infrastructure — only for usage rates to fall well below projections. The scooters sat idle in parking facilities, a rolling metaphor for bureaucratic overreach.
21. $1 Million to Promote Specialty Coffee Abroad
The USDA’s Market Access Program has historically funded some eyebrow-raising promotional campaigns. One allocation directed roughly $1 million toward promoting high-end, specialty American coffee in foreign markets. The program is intended to expand U.S. agricultural exports — a legitimate goal — but the specific projects funded under it have drawn sustained criticism from government watchdogs.
22. Tens of Millions on Empty Government Buildings
The federal government owns thousands of buildings it no longer needs but continues to maintain. The GAO has estimated that the government spends tens of millions of dollars annually maintaining vacant or significantly underutilized federal properties. Rather than selling or repurposing these assets, agencies have continued paying maintenance and security costs on empty structures.
23. $3 Million to Digitize Menus from Historic Restaurants
The Library of Congress received funding to digitize a vast collection of historic restaurant menus — a project that ultimately cost around $3 million. While food history has cultural value and the menus are now accessible online, critics questioned whether this specific initiative represented the best use of federal cultural funding at a time of significant budget pressure.
24. $35 Million on a Payroll System That Never Worked
The federal government spent $35 million developing a new payroll system for a major agency — only for the system to be abandoned before it was ever fully operational. Software and IT project failures are unfortunately common in the federal government, where procurement rules, bureaucratic layers, and shifting requirements frequently doom large-scale tech initiatives before they get off the ground.
25. Billions in Improper Payments Every Year
Perhaps the most staggering line item of all isn’t a single project — it’s a systemic one. The federal government makes what are classified as “improper payments” every year: money sent to the wrong recipients, in the wrong amounts, or with insufficient documentation. In recent years, these improper payments have totaled over $175 billion annually across federal programs. That’s not a rounding error. That’s a structural failure.
Why Does Baffling Government Spending Keep Happening?
Understanding why these expenditures occur is at least as important as cataloguing them. Several factors contribute to the pattern.
The “use it or lose it” budget cycle is a major driver. Federal agencies that don’t spend their full annual allocation risk receiving smaller budgets the following year. This creates perverse incentives to spend money quickly at the end of the fiscal year, regardless of whether the projects are well-conceived.
Weak oversight at the program level means many grants and contracts receive little scrutiny after initial approval. Once money is allocated, follow-up accountability is inconsistent across agencies.
Lobbying and special interest influence shape which projects get funded. When a particular industry, university, or contractor has a strong relationship with a congressional office, funding can flow toward projects that serve narrow interests rather than broad public good.
The sheer scale of the federal budget makes it difficult to monitor every expenditure. With trillions moving through thousands of programs, even diligent oversight bodies like the GAO can only examine a fraction of spending at any given time.
The Real Cost: Taxpayer Trust
Beyond the dollar amounts, the deeper cost of baffling government spending is the erosion of public trust. When people see their tax dollars going toward robotic squirrels and reality TV shows for the IRS, it reinforces cynicism about government’s ability to manage money responsibly.
That cynicism has real consequences. It makes it harder to build support for necessary public investments in infrastructure, education, and healthcare. It fuels political polarization. And it creates a feedback loop in which distrust of government leads to reduced oversight funding, which leads to more waste, which deepens the distrust.
The solution isn’t necessarily to slash budgets across the board — it’s to demand transparency, strengthen accountability mechanisms, and ensure that every dollar spent has a clear, defensible public purpose.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How does the U.S. government decide how to spend money?
Congress passes appropriations bills that allocate funding to federal agencies and programs. Individual agencies then distribute those funds through grants, contracts, and direct spending. The process involves multiple layers of review, though as this list demonstrates, not every expenditure receives adequate scrutiny.
Q: What is the Government Accountability Office, and why doesn’t it stop wasteful spending?
The GAO is a nonpartisan agency that audits federal spending and issues reports on waste, fraud, and mismanagement. It flags problems regularly — but it doesn’t have the authority to freeze spending or override agency decisions. Its recommendations must be acted upon by Congress or the relevant agencies, which doesn’t always happen.
Q: Are any of these “baffling” expenditures actually defensible?
Some, arguably, yes. Basic scientific research often looks absurd in a headline but yields important long-term insights. The duck anatomy study, for example, contributed to evolutionary biology research with broader implications. The problem isn’t always the research itself — it’s the lack of clear communication about why it merits public funding.
Q: How much does the federal government waste every year?
The figure depends on how you define “waste.” Improper payments alone exceeded $175 billion in recent years. The GAO has identified hundreds of billions more in duplicative programs, unused assets, and cost overruns. The full scope of government waste is genuinely difficult to calculate, which is part of the problem.
Q: Can ordinary citizens do anything about wasteful government spending?
Yes. Contacting elected representatives, supporting fiscal oversight organizations, staying informed through resources like USAFacts and the GAO’s public reports, and voting are all meaningful actions. Citizen awareness — exactly the kind of engagement that listicles like those featured on List25 help generate — is an important first step toward demanding accountability.
Q: Is government waste a partisan issue?
In practice, questionable spending occurs under administrations of both parties and has been criticized by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. While politicians often frame the issue in partisan terms, the underlying causes — bureaucratic inertia, poor oversight, and budget incentives — are structural and bipartisan by nature.
The Bottom Line
The 25 examples above represent a cross-section of the strange, the redundant, and the genuinely troubling ways federal money has been spent. From a $400 billion fighter jet with serious performance problems to $175 billion in annual improper payments, the scale of questionable government spending is hard to overstate.
None of this means that government spending is inherently bad or that every unusual-sounding project is worthless. But it does mean that vigilance matters. Every dollar wasted on an unoccupied Afghan hospital or an IRS show nobody ever watched is a dollar that couldn’t fund a school, repair a bridge, or provide healthcare to someone who needs it.
The first step toward fixing a problem is knowing it exists. Now you know.