The Biden-Harris administration is set to break the $1 trillion mark in improper payments, a new record for wasted money in a four-year term, according to a recent report from OpenTheBooks.com.
Improper payments — money sent by the federal government to the wrong person, for the wrong reason, or in the wrong amount — totaled over $800 billion from 2021 to 2023, adjusted for inflation. This amounts to $450,000 every minute, with the government wasting $37,500 on mistaken payments in the time it takes to read a single sentence.
Medicaid and Medicare accounted for 43% of improper payments last year, with issues found across various sectors. Dead people received $295 million, primarily from pension benefits sent to deceased federal workers. Prisoners were paid $171 million, while the Internal Revenue Service spent $25 billion on fraudulent and mistaken tax credits, with some programs reporting mistake rates above 30%.
While the issue of improper payments is not new, it is worsening over time. Barack Obama wasted around 4% of his spending on improper payments in his second term, Donald Trump wasted roughly 5%, and Biden is approaching a 6% waste rate.
Even California Democrats have recognized the problem, leading to bipartisan efforts such as the “Improper Payments Transparency Act,” aiming to reduce improper payments by requiring the president’s budget to identify ways to address the issue.
Dissent within the Biden administration has also surfaced, with concerns raised about the allocation of bonus funding from the Inflation Reduction Act without proper oversight. Inspector General Sean O’Donnell highlighted the challenges of spending $27 billion in one year without making payment errors.
In response to the alarming statistics, Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) expressed surprise, stating, “Goodness, that was more than I thought.” Some lawmakers, like Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), have criticized the government’s efforts to recover overpayments from individuals who have already spent the money, arguing that it unfairly penalizes those living paycheck to paycheck.
With the Congressional budget expanding annually, there is little room for $1 trillion to be wasted due to careless errors. The need for greater accountability and oversight in government spending is evident to prevent further financial mismanagement.
The information in this article is syndicated with permission from RealClearWire. The concerning rise in improper payments underscores the importance of addressing inefficiencies and errors in federal spending to ensure taxpayer dollars are used wisely and responsibly.
