A resurfaced report that initially flew under the radar claims that President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has spent millions of dollars in taxpayer funding to stockpile military-grade equipment and weaponry.
In a letter sent to the EPA in September, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, wrote, “As of September 14, 2023, the Biden administration EPA has already spent $2,892,770 on these items, which is 143 percent more than what was spent during the entire Trump administration.”
According to The Washington Free Beacon, Grassley has been leading an oversight probe regarding the EPA’s spending on military-grade equipment, guns, and ammunition. The Iowa senator has described the EPA’s actions as “frightening.”
The congressional investigation into the EPA followed a report from a government watchdog organization that discovered non-law enforcement federal agencies had spent almost $4 billion since 2006 in taxpayer funding to purchase “military-style equipment,” guns, and ammunition.
“The very same EPA that proposed slapping red tape on nearly every farmer’s ditch in Iowa now appears to be armed to the teeth,” Grassley told The Washington Free Beacon. “The Biden EPA already has a reputation for overstepping its bounds, and that makes the agency’s militarization all the more frightening. We need to know what exactly EPA is doing with this equipment, and whether it serves the interests of the American people.”
READ MORE: Biden gives gov’t workers largest pay raise since Carter
Since 2006, the EPA has spent roughly $10 million on advanced weaponry, including “unmanned aircraft, night vision, and radar equipment,” according to The Washington Free Beacon. The outlet reported that while the EPA’s spending has occurred under multiple presidential administrations, it seemingly increased under former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden.
According to Grassley’s letter, the EPA spent $6,584,473 on armor, guns, radar equipment, mobile command posts, and other weaponry during the Obama administration. During former President Donald Trump’s administration, the agency spent about $2 million on similar purchases. In his letter, Grassley contrasted the Trump administration with the Biden administration, under which the EPA had spent almost $3 million on advanced weaponry by September of 2023.
While it is not yet clear why the EPA has been stockpiling advanced weaponry, Grassley’s letter demanded that the agency provide a full record of the environmental agency’s spending on military-grade weaponry. The Iowa senator provided the EPA with a list of 23 questions to provide a better understanding for Congress to “conduct oversight of the EPA’s use of taxpayer money for this
equipment.”
For example, Grassley asked the EPA to answer, “How much equipment does EPA own that is classified in the PSC Manual as part of Group 10, ‘Weapons’?” The GOP senator added, “Please list each type of equipment, the volume purchased, the total cost for purchase, and the statutory authority for the purchase. Please include the agency’s written policies for the agency’s use of this equipment.”
