How Much does the US Government Spend on Individual Investigations?

The US is spending less and less on investigations. When the space shuttle Challenger disaster happened in 1986, the US government spent about $175 million US Dollars (USD) investigating the cause. When terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers in New York on September 11, 2001, the government spent about $15 million USD investigating the disaster. In the financial crisis that started in 2008, only $8 million USD was spent investigating the problem.

More Money Spending Facts:

• The US government spent $711 billion USD on military operations in 2008 — about the same as the rest of the countries in the world combined.


• In 2009, the US government spent a total of $3.5 trillion USD, $0.4 trillion over the budget; the 2015 projected spending is almost $4.4 trillion USD.


• Through the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the US federal government spends about $17 billion USD on the "War on Drugs."