New DOGE bill would target more than $200B in annual improper payments from safety nets, lawmaker says
The Payment Integrity Information Reform Act (PIIA) will go "hand-in-hand" with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to root out waste, fraud and abuse within the federal government, according to Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa.
Meuser, chairman of the oversight panel of the House Financial Services Committee and a member of the House DOGE Caucus, said Monday that the "DOGE team" writ-large has uncovered $55 billion in waste in only one month and that the PIIA Reform Act would dig even deeper.
"The federal government expended $236 billion last year in improper payments—money sent out improperly due to fraud, bureaucratic errors, and agencies failing to maintain eligibility integrity. "This is a gross failure of accountability that hardworking American taxpayers should not tolerate," he said.
If passed, the bill could account for nearly one-quarter of the $1 trillion that DOGE writ-large has expressed the goal of exposing, recouping or saving on taxpayers' behalf.
The act would look to improve payment integrity laws and particularly target overpayments for social safety net programs, which have been in the news lately for similar issues.
In 2023, federal agencies estimated $236 billion in improper payments were disbursed, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). That sum accounted for funds from 71 different government programs.
More than $44 billion of that year's share was also categorized as "unknown payments."
"The Payment Information Integrity Reform Act will put an end to this careless mismanagement at federal agencies by strengthening oversight, enforcing tougher penalties for noncompliance, and demanding accountability at every level," Meuser said.
"The American people deserve government agencies that manage their money more responsibly and the House GOP remains committed to working with President Trump and DOGE to rein in spending and ensure tax dollars are spent as intended."
The GAO further reported that improper 2023 Medicaid and Medicare payments accounted for $50 billion each, with COVID-19 unemployment assistance accounting for $43 billion.
While down $11 billion from 2022, that $236 billion was parcel to about $2.7 billion collectively disbursed incorrectly or erroneously since 2003.
Meuser said the improper payment calculations are likely conservative estimates and that the total figure is unknown, given agencies' systemic noncompliance with such payment integrity laws.
Last week, both DOGE leader Elon Musk and President Donald Trump remarked that some Social Security beneficiaries are listed as being older than the oldest known humans on the planet.
"According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE!," Musk wrote on X. "Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security."
Per Musk, there are 20 million beneficiaries with a listed age of older than 100 years, with about 1 million who were still alive during Reconstruction.
Fox News Digital also reached out to House DOGE Chairman Aaron Bean, R-Fla., for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
30 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump administration halts visas for people from Gaza after Laura Loomer questions arrivals
WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after conservative activist Laura Loomer posted videos on social media of children from Gaza arriving in the U.S. for medical treatment and questioning how they got visas, the State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a review. The State Department said Saturday the visas would be stopped while it looks into how 'a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas' were issued in recent days. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday told 'Face the Nation' on CBS that the action came after 'outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it." Rubio said there were 'just a small number' of the visas issued to children in need of medical aid but that they were accompanied by adults. The congressional offices reached out with evidence that 'some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas,' he asserted, without providing evidence or naming those organizations. As a result, he said, 'we are going to pause this program and reevaluate how those visas are being vetted and what relationship, if any, has there been by these organizations to the process of acquiring those visas.' Loomer on Friday posted videos on X of children from Gaza arriving earlier this month in San Francisco and Houston for medical treatment with the aid of an organization called HEAL Palestine. 'Despite the US saying we are not accepting Palestinian 'refugees' into the United States under the Trump administration,' these people from Gaza were able to travel to the U.S., she said. She called it a 'national security threat' and asked who signed off on the visas, calling for the person to be fired. She tagged Rubio, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. Trump has downplayed Loomer's influence on his administration, but several officials swiftly left or were removed shortly after she publicly criticized them. The State Department on Sunday declined to comment on how many of the visas had been granted and whether the decision to halt visas to people from Gaza had anything to do with Loomer's posts. HEAL Palestine said in a statement Sunday that it was 'distressed' by the State Department decision to stop halt visitor visas from Gaza. The group said it is 'an American humanitarian nonprofit organization delivering urgent aid and medical care to children in Palestine." A post on the organization's Facebook page Thursday shows a photo of a boy from Gaza leaving Egypt and headed to St. Louis for treatment and said he is 'our 15th evacuated child arriving in the U.S. in the last two weeks.' The organization brings 'severely injured children" to the U.S. on temporary visas for treatment they can't get at home, the statement said. Following treatment, the children and any family members who accompanied them return to the Middle East, the statement said. 'This is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program,' it said. The World Health Organization has repeatedly called for more medical evacuations from Gaza, where Israel's over 22-month war against Hamas has heavily destroyed or damaged much of the territory's health system. 'More than 14,800 patients still need lifesaving medical care that is not available in Gaza,' WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday on social media, and called on more countries to offer support. A WHO description of the medical evacuation process from Gaza published last year explained that the WHO submits lists of patients to Israeli authorities for security clearance. It noted that before the war in Gaza began, 50 to 100 patients were leaving Gaza daily for medical treatment, and it called for a higher rate of approvals from Israeli authorities. The U.N. and partners say medicines and even basic health care supplies are low in Gaza after Israel cut off all aid to the territory of over 2 million people for more than 10 weeks earlier this year.
Epoch Times
31 minutes ago
- Epoch Times
Judge Expands Texas AG's Restraining Order Over Texas Democrats' Fundraising
A judge on Saturday ruled to expand a restraining order against former congressman Robert Francis 'Beto' O'Rourke (D-Texas) and his political organization over its fundraising efforts for Democratic lawmakers who left Texas amid a state House battle over redistricting. In the order, Judge Megan Fahey wrote that O'Rourke, also a presidential candidate in the 2020 election, cannot send money out of Texas. She ruled in favor of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, after Paxton sought to remove the charter of Powered by People, the organization headed by O'Rourke.
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Trump administration halts visas for people from Gaza after Laura Loomer questions arrivals
WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after conservative activist Laura Loomer posted videos on social media of children from Gaza arriving in the U.S. for medical treatment and questioning how they got visas, the State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a review. The State Department said Saturday the visas would be stopped while it looks into how 'a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas' were issued in recent days. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday told 'Face the Nation' on CBS that the action came after 'outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it.' Rubio said there were 'just a small number' of the visas issued to children in need of medical aid but that they were accompanied by adults. The congressional offices reached out with evidence that 'some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas,' he asserted, without providing evidence or naming those organizations. As a result, he said, 'we are going to pause this program and reevaluate how those visas are being vetted and what relationship, if any, has there been by these organizations to the process of acquiring those visas.' Loomer on Friday posted videos on X of children from Gaza arriving earlier this month in San Francisco and Houston for medical treatment with the aid of an organization called HEAL Palestine. 'Despite the US saying we are not accepting Palestinian 'refugees' into the United States under the Trump administration,' these people from Gaza were able to travel to the U.S., she said. She called it a 'national security threat' and asked who signed off on the visas, calling for the person to be fired. She tagged Rubio, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. Trump has downplayed Loomer's influence on his administration, but several officials swiftly left or were removed shortly after she publicly criticized them. The State Department on Sunday declined to comment on how many of the visas had been granted and whether the decision to halt visas to people from Gaza had anything to do with Loomer's posts. HEAL Palestine said in a statement Sunday that it was 'distressed' by the State Department decision to stop halt visitor visas from Gaza. The group said it is 'an American humanitarian nonprofit organization delivering urgent aid and medical care to children in Palestine.' A post on the organization's Facebook page Thursday shows a photo of a boy from Gaza leaving Egypt and headed to St. Louis for treatment and said he is 'our 15th evacuated child arriving in the U.S. in the last two weeks.' The organization brings 'severely injured children' to the U.S. on temporary visas for treatment they can't get at home, the statement said. Following treatment, the children and any family members who accompanied them return to the Middle East, the statement said. 'This is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program,' it said. The World Health Organization has repeatedly called for more medical evacuations from Gaza, where Israel's over 22-month war against Hamas has heavily destroyed or damaged much of the territory's health system. 'More than 14,800 patients still need lifesaving medical care that is not available in Gaza,' WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday on social media, and called on more countries to offer support. A WHO description of the medical evacuation process from Gaza published last year explained that the WHO submits lists of patients to Israeli authorities for security clearance. It noted that before the war in Gaza began, 50 to 100 patients were leaving Gaza daily for medical treatment, and it called for a higher rate of approvals from Israeli authorities. The U.N. and partners say medicines and even basic health care supplies are low in Gaza after Israel cut off all aid to the territory of over 2 million people for more than 10 weeks earlier this year. 'Ceasefire! Peace is the best medicine,' Tedros added Wednesday.
