WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, or DOGE, held its inaugural hearing on Wednesday. Titled 'The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud', the panel is investigating the hundreds of billions of taxpayers' dollars wasted annually on improper payments and fraud.
Expert witnesses shared step-by-step plans to improve payment systems, close loopholes, decrease fraud, and save American taxpayers billions of dollars every year. Members explained how the DOGE Subcommittee will aid President Donald Trump and DOGE head Elon Musk in their efforts to rein in the runaway bureaucracy. Majority members also cited potential legislation that would help facilitate DOGE's efforts to improve payment accuracy and eliminate improper payments and fraud across federal agencies.
DOGE Subcommittee Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) shed light on a striking disparity in fraud rates between the public and private sectors, noting that while private sector businesses experience fraud at a rate of around 3 percent, the federal government's fraud rate is about 20 percent.
Dawn Royal, a certified welfare investigator and the Director of United Council on Welfare Fraud, explained how career bureaucrats, currently facing scrutiny from President Trump and Elon Musk, play down problems in the system in an effort to protect their political interests:
Haywood Talcove, the Chief Executive Officer of LexisNexis Risk Solutions for Government, laid out a three-step plan for reclaiming control of federal payment systems.
Meanwhile, the White House refuted The New York Times report that there is no proof for sweeping claims of fraud in federal government spending.
It cited a report the Government Accountability Office released last year, finding 'No area of the federal government is immune to fraud'. It is estimated that the federal government could lose between $233 billion and $521 billion annually to fraud.
Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2025 AFX News
