Public spending? Musk and Trump want to reduce everything

Musk and Trump lead crusade against billionaire waste in the US, but who pays the price for radical government restructuring?

News has emerged that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a newly formed Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE) focused on radically restructuring federal spending during Donald Trump’s presidency. Which parts of government will be some of the easiest targets?

Using OMB data, 24/7 Wall St. identified the government agencies that waste the most taxpayer money. The 13 federal agencies on this list are ranked by the dollar value of overpayments made in the government’s 2023 fiscal year. All supplemental data in this story also came from the OMB report. Among these agencies, overpayments range from about $16 million to nearly $99 billion.

While some of this money is recoverable, taxpayers are ultimately responsible for much of this wasted spending. The agencies on this list recovered $25.2 billion in improperly made payments in fiscal year 2023, some of which were paid in error in a previous year. Still, this amounts to only about 14% of the total overpayments made in 2023. (These are the companies that receive the most in government subsidies.)

Notably, government agencies themselves are not always directly responsible for overpayments. At seven of the 13 agencies on this list, 50% or more of the total amount of overpayments in the last fiscal year were determined to be beyond the agency’s control. A small proportion of these cases are attributable to fraud.

These are the government agencies that waste the most taxpayer money.

13. Corporation for National and Community Service

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• Overpayments made in tax year 2023: US$16.0 million (4.2% of agency spending)
• Liability for improper payments in fiscal year 2023: 100% out of agency control
• Overpayments recovered in tax year 2023: $ 220.000
• Total agency expenses in fiscal year 2023: US$383.4 million
• Subagencies/programs experiencing overspending in FY 2023 include: AmeriCorps, Foster Grandparent Program, Senior Companion Program

12. Federal Communications Commission

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• Overpayments made in tax year 2023: US$85.1 million (1.5% of agency spending)
• Liability for improper payments in fiscal year 2023: 18.5% within the agency’s control; 81.5% outside agency control
• Overpayments recovered in tax year 2023: US$85.1 million
• Total agency expenses in fiscal year 2023: US$5.6 billion
• Subagencies/programs experiencing overspending in FY 2023 include: Universal Services Fund

11. Department of Defense

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• Overpayments made in tax year 2023: $202.5 million (0.03% of agency spending)
• Liability for improper payments in fiscal year 2023: 99.9% within agency control; 0.1% outside agency control
• Overpayments recovered in tax year 2023: US$1.7 billion
• Total agency expenses in fiscal year 2023: US$621.2 billion
• Subagencies/programs experiencing overspending in FY 2023 include: military and civilian payroll, military retirement, travel pay

10. Personnel Management Office

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• Overpayments made in tax year 2023: US$224.3 million (0.2% of agency spending)
• Liability for improper payments in fiscal year 2023: 100% under agency control
• Overpayments recovered in tax year 2023: US$232.2 million
• Total agency expenses in fiscal year 2023: US$95.3 billion
• Subagencies/programs experiencing overspending in FY 2023 include: Federal Retirement Services

9. Department of Education

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• Overpayments made in tax year 2023: US$471.9 million (0.2% of agency spending)
• Liability for improper payments in fiscal year 2023: 80.9% under agency control; 19.1% outside agency control
• Overpayments recovered in tax year 2023: US$215.3 million
• Total agency expenses in fiscal year 2023: US$221.6 billion
• Subagencies/programs experiencing overspending in FY 2023 include: Federal Pell Grant Program, Title I grants, special education grants

8. Department of Transport

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• Overpayments made in tax year 2023: US$526.9 million (0.7% of agency spending)
• Liability for improper payments in fiscal year 2023: 100% out of agency control
• Overpayments recovered in tax year 2023: US$11.0 million
• Total agency expenses in fiscal year 2023: US$75.5 billion
• Subagencies/programs experiencing overspending in FY 2023 include: Federal Transit Administration, Federal Highway Administration

7. Department of Veterans Affairs

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• Excess payments made in tax year 2023: US$1.8 billion (5.0% of agency spending)
• Liability for improper payments in fiscal year 2023: 96.9% under agency control; 3.1% outside agency control
• Overpayments recovered in tax year 2023: US$642.2 million
• Total agency expenses in fiscal year 2023: US$36.0 billion
• Subagencies/programs experiencing overspending in FY 2023 include: Community assistance, pensions, medical contracts

6. Small Business Administration

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• Excess payments made in tax year 2023: US$3.6 billion (2.9% of agency spending)
• Liability for improper payments in fiscal year 2023: 100% under agency control Overpayments recovered in tax year 2023: US$2.2 million
• Total agency expenses in fiscal year 2023: US$122.5 billion
• Subagencies/programs experiencing overspending in FY 2023 include: Paycheck Protection Loan Program, disaster relief loans

5. Department of Agriculture

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• Excess payments made in tax year 2023: US$8.5 billion (6.6% of agency spending)
• Liability for improper payments in fiscal year 2023: 4.1% within the agency’s control; 95.9% outside agency control
• Overpayments recovered in tax year 2023: US$550.9 million
• Total agency expenses in fiscal year 2023: US$128.2 billion
• Subagencies/programs experiencing overspending in FY 2023 include: Risk Management Agency, Commodity Credit Corporation, Food and Nutrition Service

4. Social Security Administration

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• Excess payments made in tax year 2023: US$11.1 billion (0.8% of agency spending)
• Liability for improper payments in fiscal year 2023: 17.1% within the agency’s control; 82.9% outside agency control
• Overpayments recovered in tax year 2023: US$4.9 billion
• Total agency expenses in fiscal year 2023: US$1.3 trillion
• Subagencies/programs experiencing overspending in FY 2023 include: Supplemental Security Income, Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance

3. Department of Labor

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• Excess payments made in tax year 2023: US$24.7 billion (16.2% of agency spending)
• Liability for improper payments in fiscal year 2023: 87.3% within the agency’s control; 12.7% outside the agency’s control
• Overpayments recovered in tax year 2023: US$997.3 million
• Total agency expenses in fiscal year 2023: US$152.6 billion
• Subagencies/programs experiencing overspending in FY 2023 include: Employment and Training Administration, Office of Workers’ Compensation

2. Treasury Department

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• Excess payments made in tax year 2023: US$25.0 billion (32.1% of agency spending)
• Liability for improper payments in fiscal year 2023: 100% out of agency control
• Overpayments recovered in tax year 2023: US$59.2 million
• Total agency expenses in fiscal year 2023: US$78.0 billion
• Subagencies/programs experiencing overspending in FY 2023 include: Earned Income Tax Credit, Additional Child Tax Credit, American Opportunity Tax Credit

1. Department of Health and Human Services

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• Excess payments made in tax year 2023: US$98.7 billion (6.6% of agency spending)
• Liability for improper payments in fiscal year 2023: 0.3% within agency control; 99.7% outside agency control
• Overpayments recovered in tax year 2023: US$15.8 billion
• Total agency expenses in fiscal year 2023: US$1.5 trillion
• Subagencies/programs experiencing overspending in FY 2023 include: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Administration for Children and Families