Hardworking Americans face rising prices and a weaponized federal government, yet more than 1,500 federal programs are still receiving billions in taxpayer dollars despite their legal authorizations expiring years or even decades ago.
A federal program is separately authorized and funded by Congress. If a program is not authorized, or authorized at a specific level, it is not supposed to receive funding. But because of Congressional inaction, apathy, and inattention, these programs regularly receive such funding even though they lack legal authorization.
491 specifically-identified unauthorized programs and federal spending accounts for roughly 8% of the annual federal budget of $6.45 trillion, or $516 billion dollars. The DOGE effort to cut government fraud, waste, and abuse has so far saved taxpayers $140 billion by comparison.
The Congressional Budget Office couldn’t find or estimate the dollar amounts spent by the other 1,000 zombie programs they identified.
According to a recent investigation by RealClearInvestigations, the United States government is quietly funding what experts are calling “zombie programs” — agencies and initiatives that legally expired but are kept alive through backdoor budget tricks and annual appropriations.
In 2016, candidate Trump even mentioned this concept of refusing to pay for unauthorized programs as a way to get more funding to the military. The media ‘fact checked’ Trump’s claim as ‘false’ even though it was true, because, they said, Congress doesn’t have to follow the law.
One of the most egregious examples? The Legal Services Corporation (LSC), a taxpayer-funded outfit originally established to provide free legal assistance to low-income Americans. Congress let its authorization expire in 1980, yet the agency is still alive and well in 2025 — operating with 135 employees and a $560 million budget.
Republicans in 2011 tried to make modest cuts to the LSC, and the left-wing mainstream media said it would cause major social problems. Leftist media said it was going to “gut a crucial anti-poverty lifeline.” Left-wing non-profits rallied to protect this subsidy and corporate welfare to the nation’s attorneys.
The LSC has long been accused of funding politically motivated litigation, supporting left-leaning advocacy groups, and diverting taxpayer money into causes far beyond its original mandate. In past decades, LSC grantees have been caught assisting in lawsuits to block welfare reform, challenging voter ID laws, and filing environmental and immigration-related lawsuits aimed at advancing progressive policy goals rather than defending the poor in court. Some grantees have used federal funds to lobby state legislatures, coordinate with activist networks, and even sue landlords and small businesses en masse under dubious legal theories.
45 years after it was supposed to be shut down, the LSC is still spending hundreds of millions with zero legislative oversight.
This problem has been plaguing Congress for years, and many white papers and organizations have attempted to bring this problem to the legislature’s attention for many years.
Here are a few of the worst offenders:
Unauthorized Federal Programs and Agencies Still Receiving Taxpayer Funds:
Legal Services Corporation (LSC)
Authorization expired: 1980
FY2025 Budget: $560 million
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Authorization expired: 1981
FY2024 Spending: $95 million
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Authorization expired: 2020
FY2024 Spending: $28.4 billion
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
Authorization expired: 1993
Continues receiving annual appropriations
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)
Authorization expired: 1992
FY2024 Spending: $525 million
Dozens of Department of Justice (DOJ) grant programs
Authorization expired: early 2000s
Still being funded through omnibus bills
According to the Congressional Budget Office, 491 of these programs account for $516 billion in federal spending — nearly 8% of the entire U.S. budget — despite having no active authorization from Congress.
Even left-leaning policy analysts admit there’s a problem — though they try to spin it. Sarah Binder of the Brookings Institution told RealClear: “If Congress is still appropriating money to the programs, they’re not Zombies. They’re living, breathing agencies.”
Translation: Congress keeps funding the swamp, and no one stops them.
President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), helmed by Elon Musk, is already saving taxpayer funds by shutting down USAID and the Department of Education, along with cutting Marxist DEI grants throughout the government.
The ‘DOGE Tracker’ reports up to $140 Billion saved as of today by President Trump’s cost-cutting efforts across the federal government, which is 7% of its stated $2 trillion goal.
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