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The Treasury's main payment system, PAM, handles about $5 trillion a year, roughly a billion dollars an hour. When we first looked at it, payments could be processed with no categorization or description – basically, untraceable blank checks. If this were a public company, it would be delisted, and the executives would be in jail. We recommended making payment categorization codes mandatory with some explanation required for each payment. This radical change is being implemented now, and I think it probably saves $100 billion a year. Where was that money going? It's hard to say what was waste and what was fraud. If the government sends money to someone who doesn't deserve it, is that waste, or fraud?

We found that the government was essentially sending untraceable blank checks. If a public company did this, they'd be delisted and executives would go to prison, but it's normal in the government. We recommended to the Treasury and Federal Reserve that payment categorization codes be mandatory, not optional, and that every payment need some explanation, even if we don't judge the quality of it. This is a radical change that's now being implemented. I'm guessing it probably saves about $100 billion a year. Where was that money going? It's hard to say if it was waste or fraud. Many payments were just approved and kept going even after the approving officer changed jobs, retired, or died. It's like forgetting to cancel a gym membership, but instead of $20 a month, it's $20 billion a year.

We've discovered $2.7 trillion in improper payments to Medicare, Medicaid, and overseas recipients who shouldn't have received them. This is just one example of the fraud, waste, and abuse we're identifying daily. Elon Musk highlighted Social Security payments being made to deceased individuals, which is clearly fraudulent. We're also finding contracts where, for instance, a million dollars was allocated, but only $500,000 was actually spent. Where did the remaining funds go? These are the issues we're addressing daily. This is exactly what President Trump promised to do during his campaign, and we are delivering on that promise.

Transnational fraud rings, terrorist organizations, and even nation-states like North Korea are being funded with our tax dollars. During the pandemic, a trillion dollars was stolen, with 70% going overseas. For example, one state had more unemployment claims than adults, and Romanian thieves used stolen funds for fentanyl and to undermine our democracy. While most public servants are honest, insider threats exist. Data and technology are crucial to identify them. Recently, in a Western state, criminals stole $50 million from Medicaid in under four months. These aren't individual acts; they're organized criminal groups, both domestic and transnational. Controls must be in place.

I estimate that waste, fraud, and abuse in federal, state, and local entitlement programs cost about $1 trillion annually. We could save this money by implementing three key measures: front-end identity verification, eliminating self-certification, and monitoring the back end of benefit programs. These steps would significantly reduce improper payments and ensure that benefits reach only those who are truly eligible.

We plan to address the massive amount of fraud in this country, including foreign fraud rings where foreign nationals use fake social security numbers and identities to steal billions in taxpayer benefits. Until we gain full access, we can't know the exact amount, but clamping down on this fraud in our tax and entitlement systems could save over a trillion dollars over a ten-year budget window. It's important to understand that we are subordinate staffers of the federal government, political appointees who serve and answer to the president. We're not an outside entity, but existing federal staff performing our statutory and constitutional duty.

As governor, I saw firsthand government waste, but what Elon is finding is stunning. One agency had 13,000 employees but 37,000 software licenses, many unused. With millions of federal employees and credit cards, the opportunities for fraud are immense. Shockingly, there are millions of dead people still in the Social Security system. We need to address the low-hanging fruit. Keep good employees but eliminate unnecessary positions. I was in a meeting where it was revealed there are more government credit cards than employees, and the number of people on Social Security rolls is incredible. Checks go out automatically, and nobody is checking. Contract officers retire, but the money keeps flowing. Even diligent companies struggle to stop improper payments. Agencies like USAID don't track appropriations. Basic changes are needed to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.

Speaker 0 outlines two priorities: first, go after welfare fraud and rewrite how programs work by requiring states to send biometrics to the federal government proving that the person exists and they're eligible for the services in question, with a focus on fraud “rampant in Minnesota and throughout these blue states through reconciliation.” Second, implement an affordability package to make America more affordable for the hardworking men and women of the country.

There's massive fraud in this country, including foreign nationals using fake social security numbers and identities to steal billions in taxpayer benefits. By clamping down on this fraud in our tax and entitlement systems, we could save over a trillion dollars. Doge are subordinate staffers of the federal government and political appointees that serve and answer to the president. They will analyze and assess for signs and symptoms of fraud and how IT systems are failing to detect it. We need to protect the integrity of these systems that Americans rely on. We are restoring neutrality, ethics, and accountability to the IRS to identify large-scale fraud, unfair politicization, and unfair targeting. We want to ensure confidence in the IRS and that no dollars are being stolen from the American people.

Waste, fraud, and abuse are distinct from one another. Improper payments are related to all three, but are not the whole story. Improper payments can be caused by a variety of things, including poor record keeping, outdated IT systems, human error, and negligence. It is not simply a matter of malicious actors intentionally doing wrong. There are many reasons why they happen.

I discovered that 20 million dead people are marked as alive in the social security database. Most fraud doesn't come directly from social security payments, but from disability, unemployment, and fake medical payments because these individuals are incorrectly marked as alive. We need to implement a simple "are you alive" check to prevent these fraudulent payments. This type of negligence would result in a public company being immediately delisted, and its executives imprisoned, but it's considered normal within the government. Therefore, I recommend that the Treasury and Federal Reserve make payment categorization codes mandatory, requiring an explanation for each payment, even if it's basic. This change would significantly improve the current system and potentially save hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

A basic search of the Social Security database revealed 20 million dead people marked as alive. While it's unclear if they're directly receiving Social Security payments, their "alive" status allows them to fraudulently obtain disability, unemployment, and fake medical payments. The fraud occurs because government databases don't communicate well. For example, the Treasury's main payments computer, PAM, handles $5 trillion in payments annually, roughly a billion dollars an hour. We discovered payments lacked categorization codes and descriptions, essentially untraceable blank checks. If a public company operated this way, it would be delisted, and executives would face imprisonment.

The US Treasury Department has been flagged for potential waste and abuse of taxpayer funds, with about 23% of entitlements, roughly $50 billion annually, going to recipients without known Social Security numbers or IDs. This equates to about a billion dollars a week in potential fraud. Adding to the concern, the Treasury Department hasn't been keeping itemized records of their payouts, making it impossible to track where the money is actually going. Fortunately, an agreement has been made where the Treasury Department will start itemizing all payments, detailing where the money is going and to whom. It's unbelievable that the Treasury hasn't had to provide accountability for where taxpayer money is being spent, especially when individual taxpayers are held to a much higher standard.

For over a decade, I’ve been exposing egregious Washington waste with my monthly SQUEAL awards. Some examples are too outrageous to believe. I’m talking about bureaucrats approving PPP loans for applicants who used pictures of dolls for IDs. Imagine giving Barbie or Ken a taxpayer funded loan. Not only that, but they also believe folks claiming to be over 115 years old were alive and well enough to be approved for 3,095 PPP and idle loans worth $333,000,000 including $36,000 to a 157 year old. That’s pure hogwash. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Instead of boosting Main Street, millions of your tax dollars were wasted through USAID to fund Iraqi Sesame Street. And this one is unacceptable. Improper payments or the government tossing cash into the wrong trough have become commonplace. In fiscal year twenty twenty four, federal agencies shoveled out $162,000,000,000 in improper payments. The most frustrating part is how simple it is to stop this waste. A report by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee found that $79,000,000,000 in potential COVID fraud could have been prevented if four basic questions were asked. One, is the applicant's social security number valid? Two, if valid, does the name connected to that number match the name on the application? Three, does the birthday match? And lastly, is the individual alive? Seriously, folks, that could have saved $79,000,000,000 right there. The good news is that we can prevent nearly all improper payments in the future with my Doge in Spending Act that enacts common sense guardrails like those four simple questions.

Transnational fraud rings, terrorist organizations, and even nation-states are being funded by taxpayer dollars. During the pandemic, one trillion dollars was stolen, with 70% going overseas. For example, in one Western state, unemployment insurance applications exceeded the number of adults. Romanian criminals used stolen funds to facilitate fraud schemes involving fentanyl and attempts to undermine our democracy. While 99% of public sector employees are honest, some exploit the system. Data and technology are crucial to identifying these individuals. Recent examples include a breach of a Medicaid system in a Western state, resulting in $50 million stolen in under four months. These aren't individual thieves, but organized criminal groups, both domestic and transnational.

Doge aims to cut the deficit by $1 trillion by reducing waste and fraud, targeting a 15% spending reduction without affecting critical services. Astonishingly, billions are wasted routinely, like a billion-dollar charge for a simple online survey. The goal is to cut $4 billion daily, and Doge publishes findings on doge.gov for transparency. A key project involves digitizing the government retirement process, currently a paper-based system housed in a mine with 400 million documents, aiming to reduce processing time from months to days. Social Security systems are outdated, costing $100 billion, with critical systems over 50 years old. 40% of Social Security phone calls are from fraudsters stealing benefits. Doge aims to protect legitimate recipients and ensure website stability. HHS has opportunities to improve biomedical research by directing more grant money to scientists and consolidating IT systems. Treasury is fixing financial operations, addressing $500 billion in annual fraud and hundreds of billions in improper payments. Previously, Treasury couldn't pass an audit due to a lack of payment verification. The federal government has 4.6 million credit cards for 2.3 million employees. Duplicative functions and overstaffing exist across agencies. Small business loans have been given to those under 11 or over 120 years old. Fraudsters exploit the fact that computer systems don't communicate with each other.

Transnational fraud rings, terrorist organizations, and even nation-states are being funded with taxpayer dollars. During the pandemic, one trillion dollars was stolen, with 70% going overseas. For example, one state had more unemployment claims than adults. Romanian criminals used stolen funds for fentanyl and to undermine our democracy. While most public servants are honest, some exploit the system. In one recent case, individuals stole $50 million from Medicaid in under four months. These aren't individual thefts, but organized criminal groups, both domestic and transnational, that we need data and technology to stop.

Chairman Marcia Taylor Green's subcommittee discovered $2.7 trillion in improper payments to Medicare, Medicaid, and overseas recipients. These payments went to individuals who should not have received them. Doge is identifying fraud, waste, and abuse daily. Elon Musk mentioned Social Security payments being sent to deceased individuals. There are also contracts where, for example, a million dollars was allocated, but only $500,000 was disbursed, raising questions about the missing funds. Doge is actively addressing these issues. President Trump campaigned on this and is delivering on that promise.

Since 2012, the government has wasted nearly $3 trillion in taxpayer money. Last year alone, improper payments totaled $247 billion. This includes payments to deceased individuals; over $530 million in pension payments went to dead people. Medicare improperly paid out $47 billion, and Medicaid, $81 billion. Fraudulent payments under the Biden administration reached $764 billion in just three years. These improper payments add up to $2.8 trillion – enough to cover five years of US foreign aid. This amounts to $850 per person in the country.

Modernizing American medicine will address waste, fraud, and abuse. Last year, 230,000 Americans on Obamacare plans were unaware of their enrollment; brokers profited by enrolling them without their knowledge. California has taken millions of dollars from the federal government to provide free health insurance for illegal immigrants. The government intends to recoup this money. Medicaid patients are also being enrolled in multiple states, resulting in the federal government paying multiple states for the same individual without ensuring they receive adequate healthcare.

My team at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) uncovered $100 billion in wasted Medicare and Medicaid funds. Working with two senior CMS veterans, we had read-only access to their payment and contracting systems. Our mission was to find ways to use resources more effectively, but we discovered massive waste and potential fraud. CMS processes over a billion Medicare claims annually and manages billions in Medicaid funds. They recently suspended 850 agents for suspected fraud. The Department of Justice has also been prosecuting healthcare fraud cases, with billions of dollars in losses. This discovery highlights a massive scandal, potentially the biggest in US history, and is prompting calls for similar transparency initiatives in other countries. We need major reform, absolute transparency over tax spending, and human oversight to ensure this doesn't happen again.

It is agreed that a significant amount of money is wasted, with estimates suggesting around a third of all Medicare dollars are spent without providing any useful benefit. The goal is to eliminate this waste, not to cut Medicare benefits. Medicare is a large entitlement program that needs to be maintained without bankrupting the country or denying seniors their entitlements.

The speaker outlines several policy and oversight actions within HUD and related agencies. First, they assert that non-permanent residents are no longer eligible for FHA insured mortgages, and that public housing authorities are being audited to ensure taxpayer dollars do not support illegal aliens, insisting that “American dollars should benefit American citizens and American citizens only.” Despite these emphasis on restricting benefits, the speaker notes that HUD previously provided a pathway for home ownership and supported housing affordability for more than 1,000,000 Americans through FHA and Ginnie Mae, highlighting the agency’s impact in expanding access to housing and affordability. On stewardship and accountability, the speaker emphasizes a strong focus on cracking down on waste and fraud and abuse. They cite findings from the office of the chief financial officer (CFO) regarding potential financial issues: more than $5,000,000,000 in potential payment errors and over $50,000,000,000 in total rental assistance for fiscal year 2024. They also point to a specific problem within that broader amount: money that went to nearly 30,000 dead people. The speaker characterizes these financial findings as ludicrous and unacceptable, stating that such issues are a violation of the sacred trust with American taxpayers. They assert that the problem “has to end, and it will,” signaling a firm commitment to ending waste, fraud, and abuse and to restoring confidence in the management of housing programs and related federal dollars.

We're uncovering massive fraud, waste, and abuse daily. Recently, it was discovered that there were $2.7 trillion in improper payments to Medicare, Medicaid, and overseas. Social Security payments are even going to deceased individuals. We're also seeing contracts where the full amount wasn't delivered. For example, a million-dollar contract might only see $500,000 distributed, and we're working to find where the rest of the money went. This is exactly what I campaigned on, and what 77 million people elected me to do.

A lot of Americans' money has been stolen through fraud and improper payments. In one of my first hearings, we discovered criminals using social security numbers of dead people or people over 115 years old to get small business loans and steal money from federal programs. We need to work to fix these issues in our legislation, budgets, and appropriations. This is a bipartisan issue; we're addressing money being fraudulently used and stolen. The American people are being robbed blind through improper payments, fraud, and outdated systems. Some federal agencies hire third-party vendors to hold data instead of communicating within the government. We are currently $36 trillion in debt, and we can't afford to keep losing money this way.