Government Accountability Office

Federal Watchdog Reveals Dozens of Inquiries Into Trump's Withholding of Funds

| Importance: 9/10

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is investigating 39 separate instances where the Trump administration potentially violated the Impoundment Control Act by illegally withholding over $430 billion in congressional appropriations from various federal agencies. The investigations span multiple …

Donald Trump Trump Administration Russ Vought Government Accountability Office Rosa DeLauro +1 more government-contracts legislative-capture constitutional-crisis budget-manipulation
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ICE relies on a sprawling, mostly contracted network of ~200 detention facilities; oversight fragmented

| Importance: 6/10

GAO reports document ICE’s reliance on a complex network of contracted detention facilities, including Intergovernmental Service Agreements (IGSAs) with guaranteed-minimum payment structures. In FY2019, ICE maintained contracts with 230+ facilities for longer‑term detention, alongside …

ICE Private contractors (CoreCivic) Department of Homeland Security U.S. Marshals Service State and local governments +1 more detention-network procurement-violations immigration-enforcement igsa-contracts guaranteed-minimums +1 more
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Northrop Grumman Wins $80 Billion B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber Contract

| Importance: 10/10

The U.S. Defense Department awarded Northrop Grumman a development contract for the B-21 Raider Long Range Strike Bomber on October 27, 2015, with an initial value of $21.4 billion that could eventually reach $80 billion over the program’s lifetime, representing one of the largest defense …

Northrop Grumman U.S. Air Force Department of Defense Boeing Lockheed Martin +1 more Military-Industrial Complex Defense Contractors Pentagon Contracts Stealth Technology Nuclear Weapons +1 more
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Northrop Grumman Global Hawk Drone Costs Surge to $222 Million Per Aircraft

| Importance: 8/10

Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drone program experienced massive cost escalation, with per-unit costs exploding from an initial $60.9 million in 2001 to $222.7 million per aircraft (including development costs) by 2013—a nearly four-fold increase that forced the Air Force to …

Northrop Grumman U.S. Air Force Department of Defense Government Accountability Office Military-Industrial Complex Defense Contractors Cost Overruns Surveillance State Drone Warfare +2 more
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GAO Investigation Exposes Systemic For-Profit College Fraud - Industry Takes 25% of Federal Aid

| Importance: 8/10

A Government Accountability Office investigation released on August 4, 2010, exposed systemic fraud and deceptive practices across the for-profit college industry, revealing that while these institutions enrolled only 10-12% of all higher education students, they received 25% of all federal …

Government Accountability Office Tom Harkin for-profit-colleges student-debt fraud regulatory-capture
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Northrop Grumman B-2 Bomber Program Reaches $44 Billion Total Cost

| Importance: 9/10

The U.S. Air Force’s B-2 Spirit stealth bomber program, built by Northrop Grumman, reached a staggering total program cost of $44.389 billion in then-year dollars by 1997, according to Government Accountability Office reports. This represented a dramatic escalation from original estimates and …

Northrop Grumman U.S. Air Force Department of Defense U.S. Congress Government Accountability Office Military-Industrial Complex Defense Contractors Cost Overruns Pentagon Contracts Stealth Technology +1 more
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