California’s high-speed rail, Boeing’s long overdue Air Force One replacement and EV replacements for America’s aging postal vehicles may all soon be canceled by DOGE.
As DOGE combs through federal spending to identify areas of waste, fraud and abuse, Republicans on Capitol Hill have been suggesting legislative solutions to problems encountered by Elon Musk’s group.
A top DOGE senator is now proposing a plan to cut billions in taxpayer dollars from flowing to delayed and costly projects that may never be completed.
The proposal called the ‘Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act of 2025’ would require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review projects that are either five years behind on schedule or at least $1 billion over cost, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told DailyMail.com.
The bill would ‘require an annual report of taxpayer-funded projects that are over budget and behind schedule,’ according to the bill’s text.
The goal of the measure is to shine a light on projects that appear to be problematic and then to have the OMB director assess whether the initiatives are still worth pouring taxpayer dollars into.
If enacted agencies would need to submit files on their over-budget and delayed projects to the OMB within a year, what Ernst believes is much needed fiscal management.
‘From its boondoggles to off-the-rails projects, Washington can’t seem to ever make the trains run on time or on budget,’ Ernst told DailyMail.com in a statement.
‘Bureaucrats always find a way to pay a whole lot more for planes, trains, and automobiles—and just about everything else,’ the Republican continued. ‘I am slamming the brakes on boondoggles and bringing them to a squealing halt.’
The projects that could be reviewed range from military acquisitions to construction projects to environmental clean ups. Though the measure would not impact direct spending programs like Social Security or Medicare.
Under the bill agencies would need to cough up the purpose of the project and many of its details, like how much its paying contractors and subcontractors, and explain why its not compliant with the original price and delivery date.
Ernst noted to Daily Mail how a nearly $4 billion Boeing contract for a new 747 airliner to replace the 30-year-old Air Force One fleet could come under review due to her bill.
Boeing is already billions of dollars over its initial estimates and years behind schedule.
‘I’m not happy with Boeing, Trump told reporters on Air Force One, last week, again airing his frustration with the plane manufacturer. ‘We gave that contract out a long time ago.’
‘We may do something else. We may go and buy a plane, or get a plane or something,’ the president added.
The Iowan also pointed to California’s high-speed rail project from the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles as another target for DOGE under her proposed bill.
Originally the doomed project was set to be completed in 2020, but it is now estimated that it won’t be completed until 2033, which some have said is still too rosy of an outlook.
Not to mention the price tag has tripped, rising from an estimated $33 billion in 2008 to close to $128 billion now.
The nearly two decade long project is so delayed that not even a single train track has been laid yet. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced recently he is investigating the project.
Duffy has already announced that his review will determine whether or not additional billions in taxpayer money will go to funding the project.
Similarly a 2022 award to defense contractor Oshkosh for $10 billion to build a new fleet of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) vehicles by 2028 could get reviewed if Ernst’s proposal passes.
USPS signed a contract years ago for 60,000 Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV), but as of November 2024 fewer than 100 had been delivered.
Billions of dollars were allocated to funding the project under Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.