Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced a bill to end “wasteful spending” on government ads, mascots, and related subjects.
Ernst’s Stop Wasteful Advertising by the Government, or SWAG, Act aims to stop spending on “government propaganda, taxpayer-funded trinkets, and mascots.”
“Misbehaving bureaucrats will do anything but their jobs — including spending billions on propaganda, mascots, and swag — to gaslight the public into believing the government is working on their behalf,” Ernst said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “No more trinkets and trash and putting taxpayers last. I am breaking out my red marker, ending the costume parties, and slamming shut the coloring books.”
The federal government spends $1.8 billion annually on “advertising,” something that appears to be first on the chopping block for the Department of Government Efficiency. This budget has more than doubled since 2018, according to a white paper from Rebuild Local News. The paper complained of a “debilitating lack of transparency” in how the advertising money is spent.
Ernst, founder of the Senate DOGE Caucus, ceded that much of the advertising goes to military recruitment and other useful efforts but also contains a large amount of frivolous spending.
Her office provided several examples, including a “creepy mascot” for the Department of Agriculture: an anthropomorphic insect named “Vin Vasive” who talks about the dangers of invasive species in a video released by the agency. While a new video was released in 2023, his appearances go as far back as 2014, when he appeared as a man in a costume.
Another example was a graphic novel created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USDA, and 4-H, titled The Junior Disease Detectives: Operation Outbreak. The book is intended to be used in classrooms.
The office also highlighted a coloring book for children of Department of Homeland Security personnel.
One of Ernst’s primary focuses as DOGE Caucus co-chairwoman has been highlighting waste due to government telework, helping to lead to President Donald Trump signing an executive order ending federal telework as one of his first actions as president.
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“For years, I’ve been exposing the broken federal workforce and fighting to make Washington squeal. With President Trump back in the White House, taxpayers everywhere see he is already delivering on his promises to drain the swamp on Day One,” she said.
“President Trump and I will happily tell any bureaucrat who does not wish to return to the office, ‘You’re fired.’ Today is a tremendous step in getting Washington back to work and serving the American people, and we are just getting started,” Ernst added.
