How Tax Dollars Heavily Subsize Fast-Food Dining in California
20th November 2025
In the last two years, taxpayers spent $524 million in food stamp payments mostly for fast-food restaurants, according to data from the office of Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
Of that, about 90%—or $475.2 million—was spent at fast-food restaurants in California from June 2023 through May 2025, according to Ernst’s office.
Ernst, who regularly calls out government waste, is the chairwoman of the Senate DOGE Caucus, short for Department of Government Efficiency—an office within the White House that has targeted spending reductions.