Citizens Against Government Waste Names Rep. John Yarmuth February 2020 Porker of the Month

Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) named House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-KY.) our February 2020 Porker of the Month for fighting against government savings and reform.

On February 10, 2020, President Donald Trump released “A Budget for America’s Future” for fiscal year (FY) 2021. In the budget’s introduction, the president wrote, “To ensure this economic strength continues, I have called on the Government to reduce wasteful, unnecessary spending, and to fix mismanagement and redundancy across agencies.” This should be a welcome and practical concept for any member of Congress, but Rep. Yarmuth insists that the president’s budget means “the federal government relinquishes any responsibility for the well-being of the American people and our nation.” Rep. Yarmuth refuses to believe federal programs could be more efficient and effective, like Medicare and Medicaid, which last year made $104 billion in fraudulent and improper payments.

CAGW President Tom Schatz said, “The chairman of the House Budget Committee should be as committed as possible to help reduce the deficit, yet Rep. Yarmuth’s response to the president’s budget is fiscally irresponsible. No matter which side of the aisle they sit on, members of Congress have a duty to protect the taxpayers ’money. Cutting government waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement has proven to be the most difficult task in Washington. The president’s budget is full of commonsense reforms, but Rep. Yarmuth is putting partisan politics before the needs of taxpayers. He deserves to be the February Porker of the Month.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. For more than two decades, Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers and government officials who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.

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