Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) is pressing the Trump administration to take advantage of the ongoing shutdown, suggesting more than $2 trillion in federal spending reductions in a detailed letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought that lists a wide range of programs and expenses for potential cuts.
In a message on X, Ernst previewed the effort, writing, “I heard @russvought was looking for waste to cut during the Schumer Shutdown. Here is a list of non-essential government expenditures that would save taxpayers more than $2 trillion.” Her October 3 letter to Vought lays out a sweeping list of proposed reductions spanning multiple agencies and programs.
The Iowa senator first called for rescinding more than $23 billion in unspent COVID-19 relief funds identified by the Government Accountability Office, along with trillions of dollars she said remain in “secret slush funds” not obligated for any specific purpose. She also urged the administration to auction or consolidate vacant federal office buildings, noting agencies have not met the occupancy standards required under the Use It Act.
Among her other recommendations are 750,000 “non-essential” federal employees currently furloughed during the shutdown, which she estimated cost taxpayers roughly $400 million per day in compensation. She encouraged OMB to coordinate with the Office of Personnel Management to “right-size” the federal workforce.
Ernst also pointed to Biden-era initiatives such as the $7.5 billion electric vehicle charging station program, which has produced only 60 stations nationwide, and the U.S. Postal Service’s purchase of electric delivery trucks, which she observed remains mostly undelivered despite $3 billion in available funds. Both, she argued, should be rescinded.
Her letter highlighted federal employee purchase cards, based on government audits that found more than 11,000 questionable transactions, including spending at casinos and nightclubs. She advocated for stronger controls to prevent former employees from retaining active cards after leaving government service.
Ernst revisited projects she has previously referred to as billions of dollars over budget, including Honolulu’s rail transit system, Maryland’s Purple Line, and California’s Silicon Valley subway extension, urging OMB to work with the Department of Transportation to rescind federal funding. In August, following a federal audit of California’s high-speed rail project, she separately sought to have DOT claw back $14 billion across these and other transit projects.
Other examples she cited include federal employee performance bonuses despite delays and cost overruns, as well as what she labeled “silly science” projects — taxpayer-funded research she characterized as frivolous — ranging from experiments with shrimp treadmills to studies of potato chips resembling Elvis.
Ernst also criticized the more than $1.5 billion agencies spend annually on promotional items and mascots, listing figures such as “Franklin the Fair Market Fox” and “Sanctuary Sam.” She noted consolidating federal cloud computing licenses could save $750 million a year, and opposed taxpayer dollars funding research at Chinese laboratories, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
She further proposed OMB to reevaluate the nation’s $15 billion in voluntary contributions to the United Nations, citing concerns over U.N. involvement in planning activities that she contended undermine U.S. security, and pointed to longstanding Pentagon waste, including duplicate storage operations and overpriced spare parts.
Ernst concluded by warning against taxpayer dollars going to USDA programs such as subsidies for cricket farms or pig video game research, and pushed for stricter project management principles to address what she described as systemic inefficiencies in federal spending.
The senator’s recommendations arrive as President Trump and Vought continue rolling out cuts during the shutdown, including an $8 billion reduction in green energy programs, $18 billion in paused New York City infrastructure projects, and $2.1 billion in Chicago transit funding put on hold. Trump has framed the shutdown as a chance to take “irreversible” steps in eliminating programs Democrats support, and Vought has overseen broad reductions in the federal workforce.
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