Watchdog: Federal agencies made $132B in improper payments

Federal agencies accounted for 96 percent of the reported $136.7 billion spent in improper payments throughout the government in 2015, according to an annual report that the Government Accountability Office released Tuesday. 

The report from the watchdog group was requested by Sen. Claire McCaskill (Mo.), the ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. It found that 15 agencies were in violation of the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act (IPERA) of 2010, having spent $132 billion in improper payments in 2015. 

McCaskill was an original co-sponsor of the law, which requires federal agencies to look for improper payments and assess whether programs are at risk of significant improper payments.

An improper payment is defined as any payment that should not have been made or that was made in an incorrect amount (including overpayments and underpayments) under statutory, contractual, administrative, or other legally applicable requirements.

“Billions in taxpayer money is being wasted and that’s unacceptable,” McCaskill said in a statement.

“Whatever the political circus in Washington looks like, this is an area where Democrats and Republicans can and should work together, and that’s what I plan to do.” 

According to the report, seven of the 15 agencies have programs that have been noncompliant for at least three consecutive years and are now required to submit a plan to Congress on what actions they will take to reduce improper payments and follow IPERA requirements. 

In the Department of Agriculture’s school breakfast and lunch programs as well as its Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children were noncompliant. 

Among the other programs not in compliance with federal law: the Department of Defense’s travel pay program, the Labor Department’s unemployment insurance program, the Social Security Administration’s supplemental security income program, the Treasury Department’s earned income tax program, and the Department of Health and Human Services’ temporary assistance for need families and Medicare Free-for-Service programs.