House Oversight Chair Worries Resistance From Federal Agencies Will Sink Efforts to Cut Spending

Sitting on the shelf in the nation’s capital are thousands of ideas for making Uncle Sam cost taxpayers a lot less.

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) speaks during an interview with The Epoch Times on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 21, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Federal departments and agencies have not addressed 13,808 cost-saving anti-waste and fraud recommendations from inspectors general (IGs) and nearly 300 more related Government Accountability Office (GAO) ideas, according to government data. Some of those recommendations are more than five years old.

Federal workers’ resistance to reform—plus congressional fears of complaints by civil service workers back home in their states or districts—are two main obstacles to achieving President Donald Trump’s plans to reduce the size and costs of the federal government, according to House Oversight and Accountability Committee (HOAC) Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).