Probably the most vital modifications would be the requirement that every one outgoing authorities funds embody a fee categorization code.
Elon Musk stated Saturday that the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) and the U.S. Treasury Division have agreed on new anti-fraud measures aimed toward stopping tens of billions of {dollars} in fraudulent authorities entitlement funds annually.
In a Feb. 8 assertion shared on social media, Musk described the dimensions of the issue as “completely insane,” citing estimates that at the least $50 billion yearly is being misplaced attributable to improper funds, together with funds going to people with out Social Safety Numbers and even short-term ID numbers.
Musk, who leads DOGE and has been designated a “particular authorities worker” by President Donald Trump, revealed within the put up that Treasury officers estimated that $100 billion in annual entitlement funds could also be going to people with out verifiable identification.
In a dialogue with Treasury personnel, Musk stated he requested for an estimate of how a lot of that’s “apparent and unequivocal” fraud, and the consensus was that at the least half—$50 billion per 12 months, or round $1 billion per week—is fraudulent.
“That is completely insane and should be addressed instantly,” Musk wrote, including that the DOGE group and Treasury have collectively agreed to a sequence of reforms.
Probably the most vital modifications would be the requirement that every one outgoing authorities funds embody a fee categorization code. In response to Musk, these codes are important for monetary audits, but they’re steadily left clean, making it almost not possible to trace the place taxpayer {dollars} are going.
Beneath the brand new guidelines, each fee may even want to incorporate a rationale within the remark area. At the moment, many authorities funds lack any rationalization, making it tough to evaluate their legitimacy, Musk stated. Whereas he emphasised that no judgment will probably be utilized to those rationales at this stage, requiring at the least some justification for funds is predicted to function a deterrent in opposition to waste and fraud.
One other reform includes simpler implementation of Treasury’s Do-Not-Pay checklist, which is supposed to stop funds to fraudulent entities, deceased people, suspected terrorist fronts, and different entities or individuals who shouldn’t be paid by federal companies. Musk stated that this checklist has not been strictly enforced, with some funds nonetheless being made to flagged entities. He additionally identified that it might take as much as a 12 months for names to be added to the checklist, calling for weekly and even each day updates to stop ongoing fraud.
Musk stated that the above “tremendous apparent and obligatory” modifications will probably be applied by current, long-time profession Treasury staff; not anybody from the DOGE. His remarks on this regard align with Treasury Division Scott Bessent’s insistence that DOGE members have read-only entry to Treasury knowledge and that they haven’t been “tinkering” with delicate fee methods on the division.
The event comes as DOGE focuses its cost-cutting and efficiency-enhancing efforts at a number of federal companies, together with Treasury, as a part of the Trump administration’s broader goal of decreasing deficits and eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse from authorities.
Republicans have praised DOGE’s efforts to establish authorities waste, whereas Democrats have denounced the physique’s actions as an abuse of energy and its operations as skirting congressional oversight. There have been protests over DOGE by members of Congress, federal worker unions, and privateness advocates, together with quite a few lawsuits concentrating on its actions. Just lately, a decide blocked DOGE’s entry to the private monetary knowledge of thousands and thousands of Individuals on the Treasury Division.
Bessent just lately defended DOGE’s actions at Treasury. He stated in an interview with Bloomberg that the DOGE group is made up of extremely skilled professionals and “not some roving band operating round doing issues,” probably in reference to claims by critics that DOGE has embraced and is making use of the adage “transfer quick and break issues,” which is a part of the Silicon Valley start-up tradition of being revolutionary, nimble, and disruptive.
“That is methodical and it’s going to yield massive financial savings,” Bessent stated of DOGE’s work at Treasury.
In a follow-up put up on Saturday, Musk stated that the explanation no motion was taken underneath prior Treasury management to deal with the $50 billion or extra in fraudulent authorities funds is complacency.
“No person in Treasury administration cared sufficient earlier than,” Musk wrote. “I do need to credit score the working degree folks in Treasury who’ve wished to do that for a few years, however have been stopped by prior administration. Every part at Treasury was geared in direction of complain minimization.”
The Epoch Occasions has reached out to the Treasury Division with a request for remark.
