Waste in Federal Contracts Now More Than $1 Trillion

Elizabeth GettelmanJune 27, 2007 6:08 PM


Last year California Rep. Henry Waxman released an in-depth report on government-contract spending under the Bush Administration. It found that:

  • Between 2000 and 2005, federal procurement spending rose by over 80%.
  • No-bid and other contracts awarded without full and open competition increased by more than 100%.
  • Contract mismanagement led to rising waste, fraud, and abuse in federal contracting.
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    Today Waxman released this year’s analysis, which shows that what was already bad has actually gotten much worse.

  • For the first time EVER the federal government has passed $400 billion threshold in contracts for the year.
  • More than half of this spending — more than $200 billion in new contracts — was awarded without full and open competition.
  • The total value of wasteful federal contracts now exceeds $1 trillion.
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    Get the full rundown, and have a look at specific contracts, here.