Weekly Column: Identifying Problems, Increasing Government Efficiency
Washington,
February 27, 2025
Tags:
Budget and Spending
For a century, the federal bureaucracy has grown substantially while seeking to avoid accountability from Congress, the President, and, most importantly, the American people.
To remedy this, President Trump used his authority to reorganize the U.S. Digital Service into the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Service. DOGE is tasked with modernizing federal technology to maximize efficiency and making recommendations for improvement. He also directed federal agencies to establish their own DOGE teams, which may include department veterans, to identify waste, fraud, and abuse. Last week, I discussed the misuse of taxpayer dollars by bureaucrats at USAID. Here are some additional areas that need further examination. Recently, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency uncovered $20 billion the Biden Administration “parked” at an outside financial institution to rapidly obligate funds with little oversight at the end of President Biden’s term. This included $2 billion for an organization that had only $100 in revenue the year prior and has ties to failed political candidate Stacey Abrams. Additionally, it was reported that, in December, the Biden-Harris EPA rapidly handed out $1.6 billion in “environmental justice grants.” These grants included $20 million – the maximum amount – to a member of President Biden’s Environmental Justice Advisory Council who personally applied for the grant! These actions require further investigation. Meanwhile at the Treasury Department, DOGE uncovered $4.7 trillion in payments lacking the Treasury Account Symbol, making them untraceable. Without this information, the Office of Management and Budget is unable to connect the payment to a budget line. This is an astronomical sum of money that went into a bureaucratic black hole. As a result, the Treasury Account Symbol will now be a required field for all payments, greatly improving transparency and accountability. Congress must work in tandem with the Trump Administration to further solidify this work through the legislative process and ensure it never happens again. With our nation over $36 trillion in debt, taxpayer dollars must be used more efficiently and effectively. If you need assistance navigating a federal agency, please contact my office in Holland at (616) 251-6741 or in Portage at (269) 569-8595. |
