U.S. Senator Rand Paul has published his annual Festivus report detailing wasteful spending and record debt payments.

The US government has spent over $1.6 trillion of taxpayers’ money this year on wasteful programs.

These activities include teaching ferrets how to binge-drink alcohol. Additionally, they involve dosing dogs with cocaine. This information is presented in Senator Rand Paul’s latest annual ‘Festivus Report’.

The Kentucky Republican’s 2025 edition notes a total of $1,639,135,969,608 in waste, including $1.22 trillion spent on interest payments for the US national debt, which has reached nearly $40 trillion.

Specific expenditures criticised include $1 million allocated to researchers. They will collect saliva samples and survey partiers at EDM festivals in New York City about drug use.

The National Institutes of Health spent $5.2 million to dose dogs with cocaine, while over $13.8 million funded experiments on beagles.

Other highlighted projects involve $14.6 million to make monkeys play a ‘Price Is Right’-inspired video game. This process involved screwing metal headposts into the animals’ skulls.

The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $1 million on a study where teenage ferrets were forced to consume alcohol. The report also targets diversity and foreign aid spending.

It notes $3.3 million granted to Northwestern University. The funds will be used to erect scientific neighborhoods, install safe space ambassadors, and form committees to dismantle systemic racism. 

The State Department also spent $244,252 to produce a children’s television cartoon in Pakistan about climate change.

Paul also criticized ineffective COVID-19-related spending. This includes over $40 million paid to social media influencers. The goal was to promote vaccination among minority groups.

USAID was dismantled by US President Donald Trump in the summer of 2018.

The agency also spent $54 million to collect and send bat coronavirus samples to Wuhan. These samples were used for gain-of-function experiments.

He further noted that from a $7.5 billion allocation under former President Joe Biden.

The allocation aimed to build 500,000 electric vehicle chargers nationwide. However, only 68 stations are actually operational.

A number of the programs mentioned by Paul were approved under Biden.

Paul noted that while Trump has since cut down on foreign spending, it’s still just a drop in the bucket. He accused Congress of ’shoveling money toward pet projects and special interests’ at the expense of American taxpayers. 

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