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You Won’t Believe Where Your Tax Dollars Are Going—DOGE Uncovers $2 Trillion in Wasted Spending!

DOGE Digs Deeper: The Redundant Programs Bleeding Taxpayers Dry (Part 2)

Zombie holding cash in a dark street. Wears a torn shirt with "government stealing" text. Eerie mood with dim light.

Last week, WecuMedia revealed the staggering waste uncovered by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—billions lost through unnecessary contracts, bloated budgets, and zombie programs long overdue for elimination (WecuMedia, 2025a). In Part 1, we outlined how defense contractors, lobbyists, and bureaucrats continue to profit as the federal government clings to outdated COVID-era spending. In Part 2, we explore a deeper dysfunction: redundant government programs that cost taxpayers billions while offering little to no benefit.


From a 1980s coal research initiative burning $20 million annually to rural broadband grants in areas already served by private providers like Starlink, DOGE’s findings are not only troubling—they are a call to action. These obsolete programs represent a direct betrayal of the American taxpayer, whose hard-earned dollars are funding inefficiency and inertia.


Beyond Coal: A Rogue’s Gallery of Redundant Government Programs

DOGE’s 2025 audit, which aimed to slash $2 trillion in government inefficiencies, highlights a persistent pattern of redundancy across multiple federal agencies (Government Accountability Office [GAO], 2025a). As noted in Part 1, a coal research program from the 1980s still costs the government $20 million annually, despite coal's decline and the lack of measurable public benefit (WecuMedia, 2025a). According to GAO (2025a), this program persists due to entrenched contracts and lack of oversight.



Another example is the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), established in 1935 to combat soil erosion. By 2020, the agency employed approximately 12,000 people across 2,500 field offices at a cost of $800 million per year (The Heritage Foundation, 2020). In 2025, DOGE determined that nearly $300 million of this spending was redundant, as many offices remain active in regions with minimal agricultural activity (GAO, 2025a). Despite modern technologies like precision agriculture, political and union interests have kept these outdated structures in place (GAO, 2025b).


Medicaid also reveals significant waste. DOGE’s audit identified $500 million in redundant administrative costs stemming from duplicated fraud detection operations at both the state and federal levels (Arc of Michigan, 2025). Rather than enhancing oversight, these parallel systems reflect turf battles between jurisdictions, resulting in wasted taxpayer resources under the guise of “ensuring thoroughness” (Arc of Michigan, 2025).


The Department of Defense (DoD) is similarly affected. A 2024 GAO report highlighted over $400 million in redundant software licenses purchased by the DoD, citing poor asset management as the cause (GAO, 2024). These duplicate purchases occur because of a lack of centralized inventory, which benefits defense contractors while leaving the Pentagon unable or unwilling to improve efficiency (Department of Defense [DoD], 2025).


Further, rural development grants continue to drain $500 million annually despite having been last authorized in 2005. Many of these funds support broadband expansion in areas already covered by private providers like Starlink, rendering them redundant (GAO, 2025a). Despite this, local governments and private contractors aggressively lobby for the continuation of these grants, framing them as essential for “underserved communities” (Politico, 2025).


Why These Programs Persist

Redundant programs are not merely bureaucratic accidents—they are politically protected ecosystems. Agencies like the NRCS and DoD have vested interests in budget inflation as a form of institutional survival (GAO, 2025b). In the case of the NRCS, its 2,500 field offices operate less as agricultural resources and more as employment centers for government workers (The Heritage Foundation, 2020). In March 2025, unions representing federal employees staged a week-long series of protests in response to DOGE’s proposed cuts, illustrating the deep resistance to reform (NY Times).


Contractors are also key players in preserving inefficiencies. Software vendors profiting from duplicate sales to the DoD spent over $50 million lobbying Congress during the 2024 election cycle (Federal Election Commission [FEC], 2025). Their influence ensures that even common-sense reforms face intense pushback.


Special interest groups amplify this resistance. As documented in Part 1, the National Education Association routinely lobbies to sustain inflated education budgets despite poor outcomes (WecuMedia, 2025a). Similarly, contractors and local officials lobby to continue rural development grants under the pretense of community support, even when services like Starlink have rendered these programs obsolete (Politico, 2025).


Lawmakers, wary of backlash from constituents or donors, often choose political safety over fiscal responsibility. The White House’s endorsement of DOGE’s $2 trillion cost-saving plan—featuring $500 billion in discretionary spending cuts—met significant resistance across both parties (The White House, 2025). The popular narrative that such programs are “essential” or “support vulnerable communities” often masks the real beneficiaries: entrenched interests who profit from the status quo (Politico, 2025).


The Taxpayer’s Burden—and a Call to Action

When aggregated, the costs are staggering. The coal research program wastes $20 million annually (GAO, 2025a). NRCS redundancies add $300 million (GAO, 2025a). Medicaid’s duplicative administration costs another $500 million (Arc of Michigan, 2025). DoD software mismanagement contributes $400 million (GAO, 2024), and rural broadband grants burn an additional $500 million (GAO, 2025a). That totals $1.72 billion each year—from just five examples.


According to DOGE’s findings, zombie programs alone may account for $800 million more in annual spending (GAO, 2025a). In an economy still suffering from inflation and economic uncertainty, this level of waste is unconscionable.


This is not merely administrative inefficiency—it is a systemic failure. WecuMedia remains committed to exposing the truth. DOGE’s findings demand action. Transparency, accountability, and courage are needed to eliminate programs that serve no one but the entrenched few. The time to act is now. Your wallet depends on it.


Editor’s Note: This article is Part 2 of WecuMedia’s investigative series on government waste. Stay tuned for Part 3, which will examine fraud in high-risk sectors such as defense and healthcare.


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