OpenTheBooks Oversight Report maps $2.3 Trillion in federal grants (FY2017–FY2019)

OpenTheBooks.com, a project of American Transparency – a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan charitable organization – released on Sept. 30 their oversight report after auditing the federal government and finding what, in their opinion, is $2.3 Trillion in wasteful and pork barrel spending.

According to President and CEO Adam Andrzejewski, speaking at a leadership forum at Hillsdale College recently, President Trump’s team has taken their report and suggestions and has included them in their budget plan, which no other president since their founding has done.

“At OpenTheBooks.com, we work hard to capture and post all disclosed spending at every level of government – federal, state and local. We've successfully captured nearly 5 billion public expenditures, and we are rapidly growing our data in all 50 states down to the municipal level. We won't stop until we capture every dime taxed and spent by our government. As a government watchdog organization, we accept no government funding.”

Top 10 takeaways

The following 10 takeaways are from a larger report on federal waste, duplication and weird or unnecessary spending of tax dollars that can be found on OpenTheBooks.com.

1. Summary: Federal agencies awarded 1,999,811 grants for $2.3 trillion (FY2017-FY2019). The average award during this period was $1,128,088. ​​

2. Pork barrel spenders: Democrats held eight and Republicans held two of the top 10 grant-receiving congressional districts. Among the top 50 grant-receiving districts, the Democrats held 30 seats and Republicans held 20. ​

3. Waste examples: Hookers For Jesus ($530,190); space alien detection ($549,974); tai chi classes in senior centers ($671,251); a “walk and talk” mobile app for Latinas ($1.4 million); and creating outdoor gardens at schools ($1.6 million); taxpayers funded story time at laundromats ($248,200); webcast-livestreamed eclipses ($1.9 million); and sex education for prostitutes in Ethiopia ($2.1 million).

4. Top agencies: Department of Health and Human Services distributed $1.5 trillion in grants – which was approximately seven of every $10. Twenty-one other agencies awarded $1 billion in grants.

5. United Nations: 59 agencies and entities of the U.N. received $11.8 billion in grants from nine federal agencies during the three-year period.

6. World Health Organization received an increase in funding during the first three-years of the Trump administration (2017-2019) versus the first-three years of the Obama second-term (2013-2015): $1.4 billion versus $1.1 billion (inflation adjusted).

7. Ivy League, Inc.: The eight Ivies received $9.8 billion in federal grants despite having a collective endowment of $140 billion – which was up $20 billion since 2016.

8. Fortune 100: 10 companies received a combined $271.5 million in federal grants (2017-2019). The top companies included General Electric ($114.5 million), United Technologies ($51.9 million), and Boeing Co. ($27.4 million). Collectively, these three companies spent $174 million lobbying Congress (2014-2017).

9. Top for-profits: The top receiver was Amtrak ($5 billion). Amtrak’s revenues were $10.2 billion; therefore, federal grants comprised half of all revenues (2017-2019).

10. Economic subsidy (per capita): Washington D.C. received more than $58,000 per person, followed by Alaska ($17,639), New York ($10,987), Vermont ($10,240), and New Mexico ($9,944). Despite the claim “taxation without representation,” DC certainly gets a lot of grants.

Today, OpenTheBooks.com is the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending.

According to their website, their Mission: post "every dime, online, in real time." To date, OpenTheBooks.com has captured 5 billion government-spending records, including nearly all disclosed federal government spending since 2000; 49 of 50 state checkbooks; and 22 million public employee salary and pension records from 60,000 public bodies across America.

Out of the 50 states, California is the only state that refuses to produce its state checkbook to OpenTheBooks.com auditors.

All data and reports are displayed on OpenTheBooks.com website and mobile apps.

According to the website, the group's aggressive transparency and forensic auditing of government spending has led to the assembly of grand juries, indictments and successful prosecutions; congressional briefings, hearings and subpoenas; Government Accountability Office audits; Congressional Research Service reports; U.S. government administrative policy changes; White House policy; federal legislation; and much more.

All donations to Openthebooks.com are tax deductible for federal or state income tax purposes to the fullest extent of the law.