A recent report from the US Government Accountability Office assesses federal government fraud losses at $233 billion to $521 billion annually, or 3 to 7 percent of federal obligations. For programs that have been subject to concerted fraud attacks—such as tax refunds and pandemic-era unemployment insurance programs—losses can easily spike into double-digit percentages before effective countermeasures are taken. To put this into context, if this fraud loss could be addressed, the savings could potentially eliminate the annual Social Security deficit and fund the departments of Homeland Security and Commerce, with enough left over to almost completely fund all of the food assistance programs run by the US Department of Agriculture.
This article examines why fraud remains a persistent challenge in the federal government, what effective anti-fraud efforts look like, and how agencies, legislature, and the public could work together to bring them to bear.
To read the full article, download the PDF here.
