Sen. Rand Paul releases annual Festivus Report, which focuses on what he sees as wasteful spending

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., kept his annual tradition going this year by releasing his “Festivus Report 2021,” where he airs his grievances about wasteful spending in the federal government, and where the money could have been better spent.

Paul’s office identified $52,598,515,585 what it sees as waste, including money spent on "a study of pigeons gambling on slot machines, giving kids junk food, and telling citizens of Vietnam not to burn their trash," according to a statement. 

His list reads like a menu with bulleted items next to their price tags. He posted about the $549 million on Afghanistan Air Force planes he said were later sold as scrap, the $2.4 trillion in the construction of buildings in Afghanistan that essentially went unused and the pigeons playing slot machines study that cost $465,339.