The Government Accountability Office just dropped a report that should have every taxpayer in America seeing red — the federal government made roughly $186 billion in improper payments during fiscal year 2025. That's your money, sent to the wrong people, for the wrong amounts, without proper documentation, across 64 different programs in 15 federal agencies. But sure, tell us again how we need to pay our "fair share."
One hundred and eighty-six billion dollars. With a B. That's a $24 billion increase from the prior year, which means the government is actually getting worse at this. Imagine running a business where you accidentally gave away $24 billion more than last year and your response was a shrug and a press release.
Kristen Kociolek, Managing Director of the GAO's Financial Management and Assurance team, told the Washington Times that the "largest increase in improper payments occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2023." And yet here we are in 2026, still hemorrhaging cash like the pandemic never ended. The GAO itself acknowledged that "improper payments have remained a long-standing issue across the federal government." Long-standing. As in, they've known about this for decades and done approximately nothing.
Let's break down where your money went, shall we? Medicare led the pack with a staggering $57 billion in improper payments. Medicaid wasn't far behind at $37 billion. The Earned Income Tax Credit shipped $21 billion to ineligible recipients. SNAP — that's food stamps for those keeping score — racked up $10 billion. And here's a fun one: the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program somehow managed $10 billion in excess payments. The remaining programs combined for another $51 billion.
That's 82% of all improper payments classified as overpayments. Not underpayments. Not rounding errors. Overpayments. The government is writing checks it shouldn't be writing, and nobody is asking for the money back.
Since 2003, the estimated total in improper payments has hit $3 trillion. Three. Trillion. Dollars. That's not a rounding error. That's not an accounting glitch. That's a systemic failure so massive it makes Enron look like a kid stealing quarters from the swear jar.
Vice President JD Vance is leading a federal fraud task force that's supposed to tackle exactly this kind of waste. And honestly? This is what DOGE was built for. You don't need a blue-ribbon panel to figure out that $186 billion in wrong payments is a problem. You need someone willing to actually fire people.
Because that's the part that really grinds your gears, isn't it? Nobody loses their job over this. No bureaucrat gets walked out with a cardboard box. The GAO publishes its report, the media covers it for a news cycle, Congress holds a hearing where everyone furrows their brows, and next year the number goes up again.
They lecture you about every dollar on your tax return. They audit small business owners over $600 Venmo transactions. But $186 billion in "oops" payments? That's just the cost of doing government, apparently.
As reported by Newsmax, this isn't new. It's not surprising. And that's exactly the problem.