The Steady Drip: Musk Says DOGE, Treasury Agree on New Anti-Fraud Measures to Claw Back $50 Billion in Payment Fraud (Connecting the Dots: The U.S. Department of the Treasury, The IRS, The Social Security Administration (SSA) Timothy Geithner, Kissinger Associates, Inc., Henry Kissinger, Bohemian Club, Belizean Grove & Soros Funding, All Networking)

Musk Says DOGE, Treasury Agree on New Anti-Fraud Measures to Claw Back $50 Billion in Payment Fraud (Connecting the Dots: The U.S. Department of the Treasury, The IRS, The Social Security Administration (SSA) Timothy Geithner, Kissinger Associates, Inc., Henry Kissinger, Bohemian Club, Belizean Grove & Soros Funding, All Networking)

One of the most significant changes will be the requirement that all outgoing government payments include a payment categorization code.

The Epoch Times

By Tom Ozimek 2/8/2025 Updated: 2/9/2025

The U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington on Feb. 7, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/musk-says-doge-treasury-agree-on-new-anti-fraud-measures-to-claw-back-50-billion-in-payment-fraud-5806765?c=share_pos2&pid=iOS_app_share

Elon Musk said on Feb. 8 that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the Treasury Department have agreed on new anti-fraud measures aimed at preventing tens of billions of dollars’ worth of fraudulent government entitlement payments each year.

In a Feb. 8 statement shared on social media, Musk described the scale of the problem as “utterly insane,” citing estimates that at least $50 billion annually is being lost because of improper payments, including funds going to people without Social Security numbers or even temporary ID numbers.

Musk, who leads DOGE and has been designated a “special government employee” by President Donald Trump, revealed in the post that Treasury officials estimated that $100 billion in annual entitlement payments may be going to people without verifiable identification.

In a discussion with Treasury personnel, Musk said he asked for an estimate of how much of that is “obvious and unequivocal” fraud, and the consensus was that at least half—almost $1 billion per week—is fraudulent.

“This is utterly insane and must be addressed immediately,” Musk wrote, adding that the DOGE team and the Treasury have jointly agreed to a series of reforms.

One of the most significant changes will be the requirement that all outgoing government payments include a payment categorization code. According to Musk, these codes are essential for financial audits, yet they are frequently left blank, making it nearly impossible to track where taxpayer dollars are going.

Under the new rules, every payment will also need to include a rationale in the comment field. Currently, many government payments lack any explanation, making it difficult to assess their legitimacy, Musk said. Although he emphasized that no judgment will be applied to these rationales at this stage, requiring at least some justification for payments is expected to deter waste and fraud.

Another reform involves more effective implementation of the Treasury’s Do-Not-Pay list, which is meant to prevent payments to fraudulent entities, deceased people, suspected terrorist fronts, and other entities or people who should not be paid by federal agencies. Musk said that this list has not been strictly enforced, with some payments still being made to flagged entities. He also pointed out that it can take up to a year for names to be added to the list, calling for weekly or even daily updates to prevent ongoing fraud.

Musk said that the above “super obvious and necessary” changes will be implemented by existing, longtime Treasury employees, not anyone from DOGE. His remarks in this regard align with Treasury Department Scott Bessent’s insistence that DOGE members have read-only access to Treasury data and that they have not been “tinkering” with sensitive payment systems at the department.

The development comes as DOGE focuses its cost-cutting and efficiency-enhancing efforts at multiple federal agencies, including the Treasury, as part of the Trump administration’s broader aim of reducing deficits and eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse from government.

Republicans have praised DOGE’s efforts to identify government waste, while Democrats have denounced the body’s actions as an abuse of power and have said its operations skirt congressional oversight. There have been protests over DOGE by members of Congress, federal employee unions, and privacy advocates, along with a number of lawsuits targeting its activities. Recently, a judge blocked DOGE’s access to the personal financial data of millions of Americans at the Treasury Department.

Bessent recently defended DOGE’s actions at the Treasury. He said in an interview with Bloomberg that the DOGE team is made up of highly trained professionals and “not some roving band running around doing things.”

Some critics have said that DOGE has embraced the adage “move fast and break things,” which is part of the Silicon Valley start-up culture of being innovative, nimble, and disruptive.

“This is methodical and it’s going to yield big savings,” Bessent said of DOGE’s work at the Treasury.

In a follow-up post on Feb. 8, Musk said that the reason no action was taken under prior Treasury leadership to tackle the fraudulent government payments is complacency.

“Nobody in Treasury management cared enough before,” Musk wrote. “I do want to credit the working level people in Treasury who have wanted to do this for many years, but have been stopped by prior management. Everything at Treasury was geared towards complain minimization.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Treasury Department with a request for comment.

Connecting the Dots:

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is a division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Charles O. Rossotti was a commissioner for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.

Timothy D. Adams is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank) and was an undersecretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

David D. Aufhauser is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank) and was a general counsel for the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

James A. Baker III is an honorary director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank) and was a secretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Kenneth W. Dam is a lifetime director for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank) and was a deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Stuart E. Eizenstat is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank) and was a deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Robert M. Kimmitt is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank) and was a deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

George P. Shultz is an honorary director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank) and was a secretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Herbert M. Allison Jr. was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank) and an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Teresa M. Ressel was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank) and an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Timothy F. Geithner is a director at the International Rescue Committee, was a secretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury and an overseer at the International Rescue Committee.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the International Rescue Committee and the Roosevelt Institute.

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society and is Jonathan Soros’s father.

Jonathan Soros is George Soros’s son, a senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and was the vice chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Roosevelt Institute.

James Roosevelt Jr. is a governor at the Roosevelt Institute and was an associate commissioner for the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Gwendolyn S. King was a commissioner for the Social Security Administration (SSA) and is a founding partner at the Directors' Council.

Michele J. Hooper is a founding partner at the Directors' Council and a member of the Belizean Grove.

Deborah L. Wince-Smith is a member of the Belizean Grove and was a member of the IRS Oversight Board.

IRS Oversight Board is the citizen’s board for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Henrietta Holsman Fore is a member of the Belizean Grove and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Belizean_Grove is the equivalent to the male-only social group, the Bohemian Club.

Henry A. Kissinger was a member of the Bohemian Club and a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Jane Lakes Harman is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and the president & CEO for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank).

Thelma Duggin is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a trustee at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank).

Lee H. Hamilton was the president & director for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank), is a co-chair for the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society and is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Timothy D. Adams is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank) and was an undersecretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Charles O. Rossotti is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), the chairman for the AES Corporation and was a commissioner for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

IRS Oversight Board is the citizen’s board for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Deborah L. Wince-Smith was a member of the IRS Oversight Board and is a member of the Belizean Grove.

Belizean_Grove is the equivalent to the male-only social group, the Bohemian Club.

Henry A. Kissinger was a member of the Bohemian Club and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Michele J. Hooper is a member of the Belizean Grove and a founding partner at the Director’s Council.

Gwendolyn S. King is a founding partner at the Director’s Council and was a commissioner for the Social Security Administration.

James Roosevelt Jr. was an associate commissioner for the Social Security Administration and is a governor for the Roosevelt Institute.

Jonathan Soros is a senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, George Soros’s son and was the vice chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

George Soros is Jonathan Soros’s father, the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Roosevelt Institute.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Timothy D. Adams is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank) and was an undersecretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Henry A. Kissinger was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank) and a member of the Bohemian Club.

Belizean_Grove is the equivalent to the male-only social group, the Bohemian Club.

Deborah L. Wince-Smith is a member of the Belizean Grove and was a member of the IRS Oversight Board.

Michele J. Hooper is a member of the Belizean Grove and a founding partner at the Directors' Council.

Gwendolyn S. King is a founding partner at the Director’s Council and was a commissioner for the Social Security Administration.

James Roosevelt Jr. was an associate commissioner for the Social Security Administration and is a governor for the Roosevelt Institute.

Jonathan Soros is a senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, George Soros’s son and was the vice chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

George Soros is Jonathan Soros’s father, the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Roosevelt Institute.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Henry A. Kissinger was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a member of the Bohemian Club, an overseer at the International Rescue Committee and the founder of Kissinger Associates, Inc.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the International Rescue Committee.

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Timothy F. Geithner is a director at the International Rescue Committee, was an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, a researcher for Kissinger Associates, Inc. and a secretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury.