Tweet - ""Tis the season in Washington. Gov't agencies are going on their annual "Christmas in September, use-it or lose-it" shopping spree. I'm going to the #Senate floor to put binge buying bureaucrats on notice--we're watching! #MakeEmSqueal Tune in: https://www.senate.gov/legislative/floor_activity_pail.htm …"

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""Tis the season in Washington. Gov't agencies are going on their annual "Christmas in September, use-it or lose-it" shopping spree. I'm going to the #Senate floor to put binge buying bureaucrats on notice--we're watching! #MakeEmSqueal

Tune in: https://www.senate.gov/legislative/floor_activity_pail.htm …

If not spent by midnight on September 30th, leftover dollars expire and can no longer be used. Rather than returning the money to taxpayers, binge buying bureaucrats are wasting billions of taxpayer dollars needlessly.

And let me tell you folks -- #Iowans, and hardworking folks across the country, should be appalled by many of the last minute purchases our tax dollars are paying for.

-$4.6 million on lobster tail and crab;
-$2.1 million on games, toys, and wheeled goods;
-Over $53,000 on china tableware;
-More than $40,000 on clocks;
-And nearly $12,000 for a commercial foosball table!

And what are we as Congress doing about this wasteful spending? Nada. Congress is sitting idly by letting Washington bureaucrats waste the hard-earned dollars of folks in my home state of #Iowa.

This year, it's estimated the government will end up with more than $825 billion in unspent funds that have not been committed by contract or otherwise obligated to be spent.

Last year's $804 billion budget deficit could have been wiped out and turned into a surplus if the unobligated balances being held in federal coffers had been canceled.

That's why earlier this year I introduced the End-of-Year Fiscal Responsibility Act, which would limit an agency's spending in the last two months of the year to no more than the average it spent per month during the first ten months of the year.

This bill won't end all wasteful spending, but it will force agencies to put more thought into long term planning and curtail the bad habit of out-of-control impulsive spending.

With our national debt now surpassing $22 trillion, Washington should be looking for ways to save by canceling or delaying unnecessary expenses, rather than splurging on end-of-year wish lists.

To prevent buyers' remorse, I'm giving everyone in Washington fair warning: My office will be reviewing your last minute purchases and asking you to justify them to the taxpayers. It's time to put an end to this reckless behavior. Billion-dollar binge buying is no way to budget."

@SenJoniErnst

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