Published at Open the Books Substack

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform will spend today investigating how to address the crisis of improper payments made by the federal government each year. The hearing is called The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments.

 

It comes as DOGE works to create lasting efficiencies for taxpayers, and following record improper payments under the Biden administration.

 

BY THE NUMBERS

During fiscal year 2024, federal agencies reported $161.5 billion in improper payments – money sent to the wrong entity, for the wrong amount or wrong reason – according to data released by the Office of Management and Budget in November.

That means President Biden left office having presided over $925.7 billion in waste, fraud, abuse and duplicative payments – and that’s just what agencies were able to report.

 

Adjusted for inflation, the figure grows to $986.2 billion – almost a trillion dollars lost through improper payments!

 

That’s the worst for any president since reporting began in 2004, even when adjusting for inflation.

 

Read the full story at Open the Books Substack!