Since the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, its intrepid workers and their computer algorithms have found billions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse, and created a public outcry as thousands of federal employees were let go. But a different investigation has found a further source of waste and abuse, as $48 million of our taxpayer dollars have been linked to research that “directly or indirectly” benefits the Chinese military. This is an actual cause for outcry.

The study, done by defense contractor Parallax Advanced Research, claims, “Despite clear congressional intent outlined in Section 1260H of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, U.S. Department of Defense funding continues to flow to Chinese Military Companies (CMCs) — entities formally designated by the U.S. government as threats to national security. This persistent failure of oversight has enabled at least $48 million in DoD-funded research to directly or indirectly benefit Chinese military-linked firms, including Huawei, BGI, China General Nuclear Power Group, and China Mobile — core components of China’s military-industrial complex.”

As Joshua Arnold writes in the Washington Stand, “The Chinese Communist Party routinely scavenges intellectual property from private companies, including stealing intellectual property from American companies doing business in China. So it comes as little surprise that there are Chinese companies who, it is safe to assume, share their research and discoveries with the totalitarian regime.” Much of the controversy involves the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, whose communications equipment was banned from sale in the United States in 2022.

It’s obvious that we don’t want to give a dime to the Chinese military. Still, the issue stems from the lack of oversight on several levels. For one thing, the federal government isn’t minding the store, and the colleges and universities that receive the federal grants aren’t careful about who they’re working with. Just because they’re collaborating with European branches of Huawei doesn’t mean the information and research aren’t returning to the Chinese regime.

The report, written by Parallax director of intelligence and former Air Force intelligence officer L.J. Eads, details 17 research projects cofunded by and in collaboration with Chinese military companies. “We’re talking about at least $48 million in taxpayer dollars helping the PLA advance in AI, cyber and biotech — because current safeguards are toothless, informal and routinely ignored,” Eads said in an email to Bill Gertz of The Washington Times. “We’re not just leaking research; we’re funding our adversary’s weapons pipeline. Every dollar that flows to a project involving Huawei, BGI, China Mobile or China General Nuclear Power Group undercuts U.S. deterrence and hands the PLA a strategic edge we’ll regret in the next conflict.”

In a comparison to DOGE, Arnold points out, “The situation seems remarkably similar to the vulnerabilities that existed in USAID grants, which inadvertently provided more than $150 million to terror-linked organizations because the agency failed to vet sub-awardees, according to a report released in February.”

In either case, a federal government that does not provide sufficient oversight is using American money against American interests. The sooner we stop the steal, the better.