Senator Moreno Questions Comptroller General on Government Waste and Improper Payments

Scale of Government Waste

• 💰 The U.S. government has seen $2.8 trillion in waste, fraud, abuse, and improper payments since 2003.
• 🎯 The Comptroller General states that the tolerable amount of waste, fraud, and abuse should be as close to zero as possible, but current levels are far beyond reasonable.
• 📈 Annual fraud estimates from 2018-2022 ranged between $233 billion to $521 billion.

Vulnerability to Fraud

• 🚨 The federal government is highly vulnerable to domestic and international organized crime seeking to perpetrate fraud.
• 🧑‍🎓 The pandemic period, with its increased availability of funds, is described as having trained a new generation of fraudsters.
• ⚠️ Agencies have been slow to effectively implement fraud prevention measures, necessitating more rigorous congressional oversight.

Recovery of Improper Payments

• 💸 Senator Moreno emphasizes the importance of recovering improperly paid funds, drawing parallels to his own business experience where such money would be aggressively reclaimed.
• ❓ A key question is what mechanisms are in place to recover funds sent to the wrong recipients and whether penalties are sufficient.
• 📉 While agencies have recommendations to collect money, they are not always successful in recovering the full amount.

Agency Accountability and Oversight

• 🏦 Agencies often face criticism for not paying individuals, leading to a culture where paying the wrong person is less scrutinized than not paying the right one.
• 🏛️ Congress needs to increase oversight and hold agencies accountable for their handling of improper payments.
• 📊 Transparency regarding improper payments is crucial, but agencies must also be required to set and meet targets for reducing them.

Addressing Payments to Deceased Individuals

• 💀 It took nearly 10 years to convince Congress to allow the use of the Social Security Administration's Death Master File to prevent payments to deceased individuals.
• 💸 During the pandemic, $1.4 billion in economic incentive payments was improperly made to deceased individuals.
• ✅ While about half of that money was recovered, Congress needs to make the pilot program that prevents such payments permanent to save hundreds of millions annually.