{"id":93,"date":"2026-05-27T10:42:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T10:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93"},"modified":"2026-05-27T10:42:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T10:42:32","slug":"maga-hogs-at-the-government-trough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93","title":{"rendered":"MAGA Hogs at the Government Trough"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

One of Republicans\u2019 classic attacks on government goes like this: Scroll through the list of government grants to find the ones that sound silliest\u2014usually some kind of scientific research\u2014and hold hearings where you hold up the result, mugging to the camera, pretending to be outraged about the price. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has been doing this for years, and Elon Musk has joined in on X more recently.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s Slush Fund Could End Up Costing Recipients Billions<\/a><\/p>\n

Invariably, these attacks are either grotesque misrepresentations of the research, or a basic misunderstanding of science itself. Musk repeated claims that the government had spent millions \u201cto spray alcoholic rats with bobcat urine,\u201d but this turned out to be a study into why people with PTSD\u2014like veterans\u2014often develop alcohol use disorder.<\/p>\n

More from Whitney Curry Wimbish<\/em><\/strong> | Ryan Cooper<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even studies that do sound legitimately silly can often lead to spectacular results, because a scientist doesn\u2019t know what she is going to find before she looks. It would be easy to guffaw at government grants for, say, injecting Gila monster venom into guinea pig pancreases to see what happens\u2014except when government scientists at the VA and NIH did this back in the 1980s and \u201990s, they hit upon the key ingredient in GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic.<\/p>\n

That said, the fact that Musk and Paul are liars or ignorant or hypocrites or all three does not mean it is impossible for a government contract to be a waste of money\u2014and even ordinary contracts illustrate an administration\u2019s priorities. We have therefore trawled through the federal spending database to see if we could find any instances of waste, fraud, and abuse.<\/p>\n

Find them we did. The Trump administration is spending billions and billions of dollars on building a pointless wall on the border with Mexico, kidnapping and deporting immigrants, and turning debt collectors loose on student debtors\u2014all while slashing programs to provide the American people with food and health insurance.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to be clear about scale here. The U.S. federal government is immense, and anything less than a billion dollars barely scratches the $5.23 trillion that was collected in tax revenue last year, much less the $7.01 trillion it spent. The biggest new contracts over the last 12 months went to weapons and construction companies; war and lunatic xenophobia are reliably the big sources of spending in a Trump presidency. The single largest awards were up to $4.7 billion for Boeing to send 96 new Apache attack helicopters to Poland, two to Egypt, and eight to Kuwait; up to $3.4 billion to Raytheon for missiles; and up to almost $2 billion to Fisher Sand and Gravel Co. and $1.7 billion for Southwest Valley Constructors to build Trump\u2019s wall between the U.S. and Mexico.<\/p>\n

By the same token, Medicaid plus Obamacare funding is many times larger than ICE\u2019s entire budget, and those programs were cut deeply in Trump\u2019s Big Beautiful Bill. Some ten million people are projected to lose their health insurance. Yet when asked about such problems last month, Trump refused point-blank to acknowledge the costs of the cuts. \u201cWe\u2019re fighting wars. We can\u2019t take care of day care,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things \u2026 We have to take care of one thing: military protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

At any rate, all told, at time of writing there have been 24 contracts awarded over the last 12 months that cost American taxpayers more than $1 billion. More than half of them were for war machines and Trump\u2019s wall.<\/p>\n

But there is still a great deal of useful information in the smaller contracts. Take Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, whose most recent job was as a nominal journalist working for Fox News. One would think that among his few useful abilities would be experience in gauging public sentiment, particularly given that there is a cottage industry of conducting, publishing, and monitoring public opinion polls. Instead, he is actively soliciting for a contractor to provide an artificial intelligence\u2013driven \u201cnews monitoring service\u201d so he can judge public sentiment. Curious! But perhaps he is just being extra careful, given that he spent up to $23.3 million on a marketing strategy to rebrand the Department of Defense as the \u201cU.S. Department of War,\u201d which failed because nobody calls it that. And in case you\u2019re worried whether he still has his fingers in the media game, he also directed up to $127.4 million in \u201cnational media\/talent and furnishings\u201d to the admen at DDB Chicago for \u201cnational media purchasing and placement activities, planning, reporting, maintenance, and all associated activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The Miller Doctrine<\/a><\/p>\n

Then there is student debt collection. Thanks to some odd legislative history, the government owns almost all American student debt. President Biden attempted to stop the endless increase in the student debt total by setting up a system of forgiveness, under which people would pay a percentage of their income for a set period (usually 10 to 20 years), after which any balance would be written off. The right-wing Supreme Court majority blocked that system as an outrageous abuse of executive authority.<\/p>\n

Now, the Trump administration is spending big to extract as much as possible from student debtors. Nelnet Servicing has pocketed a $205.3 million contract for student debt servicing; Maximus Education has one for $166.2 million that can increase to $377.7 million. Coast Professional and Continental Service Group have contracts, both at $8 million, that can be increased to $23.8 million, to set up a pilot program for doing debt collection on student debtors.<\/p>\n

That focus on revenue is particularly marked given how Republicans have slashed funding at the IRS, and practically gutted Biden\u2019s special fund for auditing rich people. When it comes to making the top 1 percent pay what they owe, Republicans are defunding the tax police. But when it comes to squeezing as much blood as possible from the student debtor stone, they spare no expense.<\/p>\n

Then there are those profiting from ICE\u2019s mass kidnapping operation. MVM got a contract for $62 million for ICE\u2019s \u201cunaccompanied alien children safety verification initiative.\u201d SNA International got a noncompete contract of up to $6.2 million to conduct DNA tests at ICE field offices to verify people\u2019s biological relatives, though it does not indicate whose, on top of previous payments of $8.6 million. Clearview AI got up to $9.2 million to provide facial recognition software to DHS. New Tech Solutions got $722,000 to provide Kojak fingerprint scanners to ICE.<\/p>\n

Finally, there are various toys and costumes. BMW is getting $2.5 million to make armored vehicles for the State Department. Lenco Industries got a $4.8 million contract to deliver Bearcat armored vehicles to ICE, presumably in case they run into any nurses or mothers. Workwear Outfitters got $1.4 million to provide Enforcement and Removal jackets, plus $1.2 million for ICE parkas, $1.2 million for ICE\/ERO uniforms, and $599,680 for winter jackets for ICE. Atlantic Diving Supply also got $551,772 to provide body armor for the agency. The FBI is actively searching for a company that can provide embroidery and silk screening.<\/p>\n

Last but not least, there is DHS and its ever-increasing spending on ornaments and decorations for immigration thugs. At the moment, ICE is soliciting bids for a contract to provide a plastic badge for its agents. OK, fine. But before then, DHS spent more than $2.1 million on badges and decorations for ICE and CBP agents, including $1.3 million for new ICE agent badges alone so they could wear something shiny while \u201cperforming law enforcement operations and investigations,\u201d or in common parlance, mass deportation raids that are terrorizing immigrants and citizens alike. That is just one of dozens of disclosures showing how the government is spending our taxes on clothes and baubles. In February, the Department of Defense spent $304,750 on a \u201cdecoration set.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, spending a few million dollars to provide a fancy wardrobe for ICE officers so they can do operator cosplay when they\u2019re out tearing children out of the arms of their screaming mothers is no great shakes in the context of the federal budget. But it tells you what this administration cares about\u2014and it\u2019s not you or me.<\/p>\n

Read more In Massachusetts Today, Uber and Lyft Drivers Went Union<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
\n
\n
\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spending a few million dollars to provide a fancy wardrobe for ICE officers so they can do operator cosplay is no great shakes in the context of the federal budget. But it tells you what this administration cares about\u2014and it\u2019s not you or me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[46],"class_list":["post-93","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-tagged-budget-congress-dhs-donald-trump-federal-contracting-federal-government-ice-immigration-politics-republicans-student-debt"],"yoast_head":"\nMAGA Hogs at the Government Trough - Frontier Housing Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MAGA Hogs at the Government Trough - Frontier Housing Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spending a few million dollars to provide a fancy wardrobe for ICE officers so they can do operator cosplay is no great shakes in the context of the federal budget. But it tells you what this administration cares about\u2014and it\u2019s not you or me.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Frontier Housing Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-27T10:42:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=93#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=93\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247\"},\"headline\":\"MAGA Hogs at the Government Trough\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T10:42:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=93\"},\"wordCount\":1378,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=93#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/3486a43808c4d8660da05ac59ec2f1b5.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Tagged: Budget,\u00a0Congress,\u00a0DHS,\u00a0Donald Trump,\u00a0federal contracting,\u00a0federal government,\u00a0ICE,\u00a0Immigration,\u00a0Politics,\u00a0Republicans,\u00a0student debt\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=93#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=93\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=93\",\"name\":\"MAGA Hogs at the Government Trough - Frontier Housing Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=93#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=93#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/3486a43808c4d8660da05ac59ec2f1b5.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T10:42:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=93#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=93\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=93#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/3486a43808c4d8660da05ac59ec2f1b5.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/3486a43808c4d8660da05ac59ec2f1b5.webp\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1333},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=93#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MAGA Hogs at the Government Trough\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Frontier Housing Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"MAGA Hogs at the Government Trough - Frontier Housing Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"MAGA Hogs at the Government Trough - Frontier Housing Report","og_description":"Spending a few million dollars to provide a fancy wardrobe for ICE officers so they can do operator cosplay is no great shakes in the context of the federal budget. But it tells you what this administration cares about\u2014and it\u2019s not you or me.","og_url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93","og_site_name":"Frontier Housing Report","article_published_time":"2026-05-27T10:42:32+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247"},"headline":"MAGA Hogs at the Government Trough","datePublished":"2026-05-27T10:42:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93"},"wordCount":1378,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3486a43808c4d8660da05ac59ec2f1b5.webp","keywords":["Tagged: Budget,\u00a0Congress,\u00a0DHS,\u00a0Donald Trump,\u00a0federal contracting,\u00a0federal government,\u00a0ICE,\u00a0Immigration,\u00a0Politics,\u00a0Republicans,\u00a0student debt"],"articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93","url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93","name":"MAGA Hogs at the Government Trough - Frontier Housing Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3486a43808c4d8660da05ac59ec2f1b5.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-27T10:42:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3486a43808c4d8660da05ac59ec2f1b5.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3486a43808c4d8660da05ac59ec2f1b5.webp","width":2000,"height":1333},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=93#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MAGA Hogs at the Government Trough"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/","name":"Frontier Housing Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/92"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}