Government Misspent $175 Billion in Fiscal 2019, Federal Watchdog Reports

March 3, 2020

The federal government recorded some $175 billion in “improper payments” in fiscal year 2019, according to estimates by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The figure includes both money that should not have been spent as well as money that should have been but wasn’t. Overpayments totaled over $79 billion, while underpayments near $13 billion. The rest was marked as “unknown” or “technically improper due to statute or regulation,” GAO said in its annual report (pdf) on the topic released on March 2.

For about 43 percent of the total misspent figure, the stated reason was “insufficient documentation.” That means the agency wasn’t able to document whether the payment was accurate or not.

Other common reasons included “administrative or process error” and “inability to authenticate eligibility,” which means the agency couldn’t tell whether the recipient should have gotten the money or not.

Improper payments have totaled almost $1.7 trillion government-wide since 2003, GAO estimated.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/government-misspent-175-billion-in-fiscal-2019-federal-watchdog-reports_3258815.html