Citizens Against Government Waste: mission, leadership and finances

What it does

Citizens Against Government Waste, or CAGW, is a nonprofit that investigates government waste. It publishes the annual Congressional Pig Book, which lists earmarks.

Citizens Against Government Waste is listed here in the category "Advocacy". A listing on 4conservative.com describes an organization; it is not an endorsement of it or of its positions.

History

It was founded in 1984 with J. Peter Grace and syndicated columnist Jack Anderson, following the Grace Commission on government efficiency.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a advocacy organization. It is headquartered in Washington, DC. Its IRS tax status is 501(c)(3). Like other organizations in this collection, it is described here from its own published material and from public records, and the facts on this page are limited to what those sources state.

Leadership and funding

It files a Form 990, shown here. Its related lobbying arm is a separate organization.

The IRS figures on this page come from the latest Form 990 filing that ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer lists for the organization, for tax year 2023: total revenue of $2.0 million, total expenses of $2.7 million and total assets of $1.9 million at year end. ProPublica lists the filer as Citizens Against Government Waste. The figures describe a single tax year and can differ sharply from year to year; check the filing itself and the organization's own site for the current picture.

Where it stands

It argues for cutting waste and fraud in government spending.

These summaries reflect the organization's own stated mission and publicly known activities as of the date below; they are neutral descriptions, not evaluations. Related organizations on this site include National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform, Club for Growth.