Waste of the Day: “Zombie” Programs Live Again
Topline: In fiscal year 2025, Congress funded 1,326 federal programs that had expired legal authorizations to receive taxpayer funding — the most since at least 2019, when the Congressional Budget Office began totaling the annual number.
Another 304 funded programs had authorizations that expired later in 2025.
These “zombie programs” cost taxpayers at least $500 billion in 2025, although CBO analysts were unable to determine how much money 869 of the programs actually received; the actual dollar total was far higher.
Key facts: “Zombie programs” earn their nickname by living on for decades after their funding was legally scheduled to lapse. For example, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was created by a 1981 law that allowed Congress to fund it until 1984. But Congress has continued to send it money every year, without passing a law that makes such funding legal.
Oftentimes, Congress is too busy to reauthorize federal programs. Sarah Binder, professor of political science at George Washington University, previously told RealClearInvestigations that “Congress doesn’t have the time to do good institutional housecleaning … They don’t have the capacity to keep tabs on the authorizations.”
Binder argued that, if a program is currently funded by Congress, it would be unconstitutional for the president to shut it down simply because its authorization is expired. Yet for many zombie programs, it has been years since Congress voted to decide if they are an efficient use of taxpayer money. Funding is instead tucked into larger spending packages with thousands of pages.
Zombie programs from 2025 included the controversial Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which voted this January to shut itself down. Its legal authorization to receive taxpayer funding expired in 1996.
There were 22 zombie programs that expired during the 1980s.
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce funded 363 zombie programs, more than any other committee.
It remains unknown how many zombie programs will receive funding in 2026, as Congress had still not passed a full 2026 federal budget when the latest CBO report was released on Jan. 15. The CBO said another report will be issued “later this year.”
There are 157 federal programs that received funding in 2025 but will expire in 2026. Another 180 programs will expire in 2027.
Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.
Summary: As the national debt continues to climb, federal programs that have not undergone a reauthorization vote in decades are prime candidates for potential cuts.
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