An occasional tear in the fabric allows curious visitors a chance to peek in on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the most visited monument in the American capital and — arguably, at the moment — the most discussed monument in the country. “Who’s paying for this? We’re paying for that,” said Bridget Breger, a visitor who stopped by to look. “That’s a big kind of, whoa, slap in the face.”

As investigators work to get to the bottom of the pool’s problems, millions of gallons of water have been drained from it to reveal what one watchdog group says is a troubling trend in how the government has been spending tax dollars. 

Taxpayer dollars spent on sole-source contracts are at the highest point the country has seen in more than a decade, according to an analysis of federal government data by the Project on Government Oversight, or POGO. Sole-source contracts are sometimes known as “no bid” contracts, since the government arranges a contract with one vendor or business without a competitive bidding process. In 2025, tax dollars spent on sole-source contracts awarded by the federal government ballooned to nearly $263 billion.

“We certainly need more watchdogs than we need lap dogs,” said POGO general counsel Scott Amey, who has scrutinized no-bid contracts for 27 years. To explain how such bids work, Amey put it in terms of home improvements. “If I decide to have a window company come in, or a roofer come into my own home, I want to get two, three bids to try to get the best deal possible … make sure that I’m not being taken advantage of. And we want the federal government to operate with the same standards. And unfortunately, they don’t always do that.”

Amey is sounding the alarm for what’s on the horizon. According to POGO, fiscal year 2026 is potentially on target to surpass 2025 and land somewhere around $300 billion. The trend affects all Americans, Amey said. “I think a lot of people are going to be trying to put the milk back in the bottle for many years to come.”

When MS NOW requested comment, the Office of Management and Budget asked for more specifics around the request, then did not immediately respond when MS NOW provided additional information.

Sole-source awards are not illegal, and experts who spoke with MS NOW said this type of contract is necessary in some circumstances, such as highly specialized services or during public emergencies when full and open competition isn’t possible — the global pandemic, for example. That year, 2020, saw the second-highest dollar amount in sole-source contracts in the past decade.

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Marc Santia

Marc Santia is an investigative correspondent for MS NOW.

Emily Berk

Emily Berk is a field producer for MS NOW.