Government waste and fraud are a serious problem for American taxpayers, with billions of dollars lost each year to mismanagement and fraudulent activities.
According to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), between 2018 and 2022, losses ranged from $233 billion to $521 billion, including fraud tied to COVID-19 relief programs, such as the $64 billion lost in the Paycheck Protection Program.
A 30 minute highlight reel of government waste and fraud. Perfect explainer of what @DOGE really does – and what they’re finding.
If Americans truly understood they would support at 80/20 levels. They also might vote out most of Congress who allowed all of this to happen. https://t.co/yWY4XNLaI7
— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) March 28, 2025
Additionally, examples of waste are staggering, like the Department of Defense’s $850 billion budget, which hasn’t been audited in seven years, or FEMA spending over $59 million on luxury hotels in New York for illegal immigrants.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was established to tackle this issue, recovering $115 billion and saving $3.5 million in Veterans Affairs, while also halting wasteful spending, such as USAID’s $20 million for “Sesame Street” in Iraq.
Some absurd examples include the Air Force’s $1,300 coffee mugs and Pennsylvania’s limestone mine, where 700 employees manually process retirements, taking months.
Experts believe better oversight, the use of AI, and modernizing processes could reduce this problem. If Congress implements major reforms, taxpayer money could be used effectively, and efforts like DOGE offer a ray of hope in this direction.