Sign In
  • Best Buys
  • Household Money
  • Banking & Borrowing
  • Mortgages & Home
  • Saving & Making Money
  • Rights, Scams & Politics
  • Motoring & Travel
  • Investing & Pensions
  • Savings & ISAs
  • Features
  • Compare

Controversial ways the US government spends taxpayers' money

Federal spending that provoked controversy
Cannabis classical music concerts: $15,000
Bizarre 'Doggie Hamlet' performance: $30,000
Minecraft version of Berkshire, Massachusetts: $36,700
Research on how Syrian refugees are treated in Iceland: $40,000
Book on the history of smoking in Russia: $48,500
Ad campaign promoting awareness of Christmas trees at Christmas: $50,000
Study of sea monkey swimming patterns: $50,000
Trump resorts golf cart hire: $60,000
Research into what bugs do when they encounter a light: $65,473
3D computer puppet project: $74,851
Converting films to digital format: $100,000
Yoga classes for federal employees: $150,000
Earthquake-proof gingerbread house workshop: $150,000
Study examining why monkeys throw poo at each other: $170,000
A study into the gambling habits of monkeys: $171,000 (£131k)
Book on why Americans won't use the Metric System: $188,000
Study to find out whether girls play with Barbie dolls more than boys: $300,000
Experiment using voodoo dolls to find out why people get 'hangry': $311,000
A bizarre study about couples: $325,525
Study on the sex habits of coked-up quails: $356,000
Swedish massages for rabbits: $387,000
Research to figure out if dinosaurs could sing: $460,000
Research to ascertain how long fish can run on a treadmill: $560,000
Project to digitise Grateful Dead memorabilia: $615,175
Slimfast for teens: $686,350
Extravagant Las Vegas conference: $800,000
A pancake house in Washington, DC: $800,000
Waste hotline that wastes money: $800,000
Heated bus shelter that doesn't do the job: $800,000
Study analysing the evolution of monkey drool: $810,000
Seven flights taken by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on government planes: $811,800
Afghan TV cricket league: $852,000
Training mountain lions to use a treadmill: $856,000
Putting up poetry in zoos: $1 million
Project looking at how Christianity would react to alien life: $1.1 million
Purchase and removal of a wooden art installation: $1.2 million
Study on how to make tomatoes taste better: $1.5 million
Research into whether people who are paid to lose weight drop more pounds: $1.6 million
Museum of dead comedian holograms: $1.7 million
Jazz-playing robots: $2 million
Research on how to get more 'likes' on social media: $2.4 million
Study of the habits of World of Warcraft players: $3 million
Study on scary background music in shark documentaries: $3 million
Study watching hamster cage fights: $3 million
Study to find out why people are scared of going to the dentist: $3.5 million
Research on the partying habits of fraternities and sororities: $5 million
Study looking into the effectiveness of golf equipment in space: $5 million
Paying hipsters to quit smoking: $5 million
Unused email software subscription: $12 million
Camouflage that didn’t actually blend in: $28 million
Trump Tower security costs: $50 million
Peanuts for loan repayments program: $74 million
Unused flight tickets: $100 million
Overpriced penis pumps: $172 million
Afghan power plant that is rarely used: $335 million
Farm subsidies: $2.4 billion
Mexico-US border wall: $15 billion (£10.8bn)
1 of 58
Jim Watson/Getty Images

Federal spending that provoked controversy

Just because America has staggering national debt of over $30 trillion, it doesn’t mean the government is entirely frugal in the way it spends taxpayers’ cash. From blowing $800,000 on an elaborate “conference” to spending $1 million on putting poetry in zoos, here’s our round-up of the strangest federal spending that’ll have you thinking April fools’ day has come early.

Gallery view |
List View

lovemoney staff

29 March 2022

Features

See more on this topic

Share the love