1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

I frequently receive responses from your office expressing concern about government spending and the federal deficit. However, recent reporting raises serious questions about whether Congress is actually exercising oversight over wasteful spending. According to reporting on Defense Department expenditures under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon engaged in a massive end-of-fiscal-year spending spree totaling roughly $93 billion. A significant portion of this spending appears to have been for items that have little or nothing to do with national defense. Purchases reportedly included thousands of dollars for fruit basket stands, tens of thousands of dollars for premium office chairs, and millions of dollars spent on luxury food items such as Alaskan king crab. Furniture spending alone exceeded $225 million, the highest level in years, including more than $60,000 for high-end office chairs and over $12,000 for decorative fruit basket stands. These kinds of expenditures appear to be part of a long-standing “use-it-or-lose-it” spending pattern at the end of the fiscal year, where agencies rush to spend remaining funds rather than return them to taxpayers. If members of Congress are genuinely concerned about fiscal responsibility, I would expect to see strong oversight of this kind of spending. Yet I have not seen meaningful accountability from Congress regarding these expenditures. As your constituent, I would like clear answers to the following: Do you believe purchases like luxury furniture, decorative items, and high-end food purchases are an appropriate use of taxpayer funds within the Defense Department? What oversight actions has Congress taken regarding the Pentagon’s reported $93 billion end-of-year spending surge? What steps are you personally taking to ensure that the Department of Defense prioritizes actual defense needs rather than unnecessary or frivolous expenditures? Fiscal responsibility should apply to all parts of government, including the Department of Defense. If Congress is serious about addressing government spending, oversight must apply equally—even when the waste occurs within agencies that are politically popular or politically protected. I look forward to your response.