Government Waste

The Feds Wasted $186 Billion on 'Improper Payments' Last Year

That total is a low-ball estimate because some federal agencies didn't report their totals to the Government Accountability Office.

Eric Boehm | 6.4.2026 3:45 PM

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Trillions of taxpayer dollars flow through the federal government every year, and a lot of them don't end up where they are supposed to go.

During the 2025 fiscal year, the federal government lost an estimated $186 billion to "improper payments," according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Most often, those improper payments are the result of errors that resulted in the government "paying someone who was ineligible for federal assistance," the GAO reports. Since the office started tracking improper payments in 2003, those mistakes have cost taxpayers more than $3 trillion.

"Given the magnitude of these estimates, it is imperative that agencies........

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