Colossal Waste: Feds made $236 billion in 'improper payments' last year, watchdog reports

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Just the News

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported $236 billion worth of "improper payments" made under the Biden administration in fiscal year 2023 alone, more than double the amount in fiscal year 2013, Just the News has learned. According to the GAO, the potential waste, fraud, and abuse runs across the spectrum of federal agencies. 

Since 2003, there have been more than $2.4 trillion of improper payments made across the federal government, according to the GAO, and that figure does not include the fiscal year 2023 amount. The government watchdog defines "improper payments" as payments that should not have been made or were made in the incorrect amount, and says they "have consistently been a government-wide issue despite efforts to identify their root causes and reduce them. In fact, the government still doesn’t fully understand the size of federal improper payments, partly because it doesn’t have complete, reliable, or accurate estimates."

In fiscal year 2022, the amount of improper payments was $247 billion.

The United States government programs that typically account for the most improper payments include Medicare, Medicaid, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and Social Security.