Government Waste Hits Record High: $925 Billion in Improper Payments Under Biden

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform convened this week for a hearing titled The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments. A noble-sounding effort, no doubt, but anyone who has followed Washington’s track record knows exactly how this will go—politicians will express outrage, bureaucrats will promise reforms, and absolutely nothing will change. Meanwhile, the damage has already been done. Under the Biden administration, improper payments—government funds sent to the wrong person, for the wrong amount, or for the wrong reason—have hit historic levels. According to data from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), federal agencies improperly distributed $161.5 billion in 2024 alone. That brings Biden’s total to a staggering $925.7 billion in waste, fraud, and…