Corruption & Government Waste
Washington has been robbing American taxpayers for decades. Lauren B. Peña will go to Congress to audit, expose, and prosecute every dollar stolen from the American people.
$247B
Improper federal payments in 2023
6
Consecutive years Pentagon failed its audit
$1T+
Estimated annual federal waste
0
Members of Congress prosecuted for insider trading
The federal government wastes trillions of dollars every year through fraud, abuse, and outright corruption. While working families struggle to pay their bills, career politicians and their cronies line their pockets with taxpayer money. Lauren B. Peña will not stand for it.
The federal government spent over $6.1 trillion in fiscal year 2023 — yet independent watchdogs have identified hundreds of billions in improper payments, fraudulent contracts, and outright waste. The Pentagon has failed its audit for six consecutive years. FEMA has paid billions to fraudulent disaster relief claims. The IRS sends refund checks to dead people. This is not incompetence — it is a system designed to benefit insiders at the expense of taxpayers.
Congressional corruption is equally rampant. Members of Congress routinely trade stocks based on insider knowledge from committee hearings, award contracts to donors, and use campaign funds as personal slush funds. The revolving door between Congress and K Street lobbyists has turned Washington into a pay-to-play operation that serves the donor class, not the American people.
Lauren B. Peña has seen government failure up close — not from a boardroom, but from the streets. She knows what it means when government money meant to help people disappears into the pockets of bureaucrats and contractors. She will bring that perspective to Congress and use it to hold every agency accountable.
Lauren supports the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) mission and will work alongside it to identify and eliminate wasteful spending, fraudulent programs, and bloated bureaucracies. Real accountability means real consequences — not just headlines.
"Washington doesn't have a revenue problem. It has a corruption problem. I'm going to Congress to fix it.
— Lauren B. Peña
Audit every federal agency
Mandate annual independent audits of all federal departments and publish results publicly. Agencies that fail audits face immediate budget freezes until deficiencies are corrected.
Prosecute fraud and abuse
Refer all credible cases of government fraud to the DOJ for criminal prosecution. Government officials who steal from taxpayers must face the same consequences as anyone else.
Full spending transparency
Require real-time public disclosure of all federal contracts, grants, and expenditures over $10,000 on a searchable public database.
End Congressional insider trading
Ban all members of Congress and their immediate families from trading individual stocks while in office. Require blind trusts for all investments.
Support DOGE and government efficiency reforms
Work alongside the Department of Government Efficiency to identify redundant programs, eliminate waste, and return savings to taxpayers through debt reduction and tax relief.