1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

Demand Accountability for DOGE Cuts That Left Taxpayers Covering the Bill I’m writing to demand a full accounting of how DOGE’s spending cuts have ended up costing taxpayers far more than they claimed to save, using the New World screwworm outbreak as a clear example that deserves formal investigation. In March 2025, DOGE terminated roughly $382 million in USAID funding that included international programs monitoring and containing New World screwworm in Central America, along with a separate domestic USDA program that cost about $15 million a year. DOGE also paused a sterile-fly production facility in Mexico that had been part of a $165 million emergency package. In June 2026, screwworm was confirmed in Texas livestock for the first time in decades. The USDA is now spending at least $750 million, with the administration requesting up to $1 billion, to build a new domestic facility to fight the outbreak — one that won’t be fully operational until 2027. Whether these specific cuts directly caused the outbreak is still an open question that deserves a real investigation, not a talking point in either direction. But what isn’t in question is the pattern: DOGE claimed credit for “savings” on programs tied to public health and safety, and in case after case, taxpayers are now on the hook for costs far larger than what was supposedly saved, whether in dollars, in jobs, or in public health and safety. I’m asking you to: 1. Demand a formal, independent accounting of DOGE’s cuts to programs affecting public health, agriculture, and safety, including a clear tally of downstream costs those cuts have caused. 2. Support congressional hearings and oversight requiring DOGE and its former leadership to answer for the real-world consequences of these decisions. 3. Push for any recovered costs, penalties, or damages tied to reckless cuts to be paid by those responsible for the decisions, not solely by taxpayers. 4. Require future efficiency initiatives to undergo independent risk assessment before cutting programs tied to public health, food safety, or national security. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your response.