Ineffective financial management “plagues the federal government” and the 2010 Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act, while making the problem more visible, has not been sufficiently used to address it, according to a report by Republican leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and its government operations subcommittee.
It said that in the first five years of reporting under that law, the federal government has tallied nearly $600 billion in improper payments. While the definition includes both overpayments and under-payments, the former accounts for 90 percent of the total, said the report, which follows hearings in the committee.
Further, the 2015 total was the most in that period, more than $137 billion, and that year also saw the fewest agencies in compliance with IPERA, as determined by IG audits—just 16 of the 24 large agencies covered by the CFO Act.
It said five—HHS, Treasury, SSA, Labor and Agriculture—are responsible for 85 percent of improper payments and that none of those have been in compliance with the Act in any year since its passage.
The report made recommendations including improving data reliability, compliance with outstanding IG recommendations, expansion of the Do Not Pay initiative and strengthened OMB requirements on reporting.
