Poor Oversight of Homeland Security Spending

A new report from the American Enterprise Institute finds that the large increases in homeland security spending are occurring without any real congressional or Administration oversight. Additionally, author and AEI research fellow Veronique de Rugy concludes that neither Congress nor the Bush Administration has conducted risk and cost-benefit analysis on homeland security spending. De Rugy estimates that total funding for homeland security activities has increased about 180% since fiscal 2001, reaching at least $47 billion for fiscal 2005. Most of the spending is being used for grants to state and local governments, and many of these grants, she writes, "appear to be applied for questionable purchases." The absence of risk and cost-benefit assessments is "leading to a large amount of wasteful spending," she writes.