US President Donald Trump claims that a group led by Elon Musk, known as Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has found evidence of widespread fraud in US Treasury payments, potentially saving the country $50 billion annually.
Trump stated that this could reduce the national debt and interest payments, citing examples of potential fraud in USAID and education sectors. He also mentioned that DOGE will investigate government debt securities to identify issues.
Musk’s team claims that some payments to individuals with no Social Security Number or temporary ID number are being handed out by the Treasury, amounting to $100 billion annually. They estimate that half of these payments may be fraudulent, resulting in $1 billion weekly losses.
This could present a win-win situation for policymakers, as reducing expected payments without cutting public services could address national debt concerns. However, experts note that this amount is still a fraction of the net interest costs paid out in 2023, which totaled $658 billion.
The Treasury has previously recovered billions of dollars in fraudulent payments through AI and pilot programs. While Musk’s claims are alarming, individuals committing fraud against the Treasury are not new, and these issues have been ongoing under previous administrations.
Source: https://fortune.com/2025/02/10/trump-musk-dode-national-debt-fraud