Controlling Waste and Fraud: US Attorneys, IGs, GAO, and other Recent Developments

Drop down to recent developments, below.

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Key Resources:

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• GAO Reports & Testimonies – Use the Government Accountability Office’s main reports database (at GAO.gov) and search by keywords such as “fraud,” “waste,” “abuse,” “improper payments,” or “internal control,” then filter by agency, topic, or date to narrow results.

• Search Inspector General reports at Oversight.gov.

• See cross-cutting work by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.

• HHS Office of Inspector General – Posts audits, evaluations, and enforcement materials on fraud and waste in HHS programs (e.g., Medicare/Medicaid).

• Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General – Provides audit and inspection reports and an office directory; investigative work on fraud and abuse cases is often summarized in public reports.

• Treasury Office of Inspector General – Offers reports and guidance on fraud, waste, and abuse related to Treasury operations and links to reporting channels.

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Recent Developments

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Wed, May 27, 2026:

• Reflecting Pool Contract Has ‘Inflated’ Profit Margin, Government Analysis Finds. The firm that was given a no-bid contract to fix the troubled landmark is charging 20 percent. The typical profit margin is 6 percent to 12 percent, internal records show. - NYT

Mon, March 16, 2026:

• Trump signed an executive order on Monday launching a task force to crack down on fraudulent payments across the federal government. - FNN

Mon, March 9, 2026:

• OpenTheBooks released a report showing a burst of wasteful Pentagon spending last September when $93 billion was spent in one month on grants and contracts. “In the last five working days of September alone, the DoD spent $50.1 billion on grants and contracts.” The spending spree included: $6.9 million for lobster tail; $15.1 million for ribeye steak; $2 million for Alaskan king crab; and $98,329 for a Steinway & Sons grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff’s home.” - OpenTheBooks

  • TrillionsWeekly comment: Does this look like a government department that needs a budget increase from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion, as President Trump is demanding. When will eliminating “waste, fraud, and abuse” be applied to the Pentagon?

Wed, Feb 25, 2026:

• Trump’s pick to lead new Justice Department unit scrutinized as president declares ‘war on fraud’ - AP

• The future of investigating fraud has been unclear, as the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota has seen a wave of prosecutors quitting in recent months… the number of assistant U.S. attorneys in the District of Minnesota has dropped from 64 to 36 — a 44% decrease. - KSTP.Com

Mon, Feb 2 2026:

• Education Department spent up to $38M paying employees not to work before reinstating them, watchdog reports. The Government Accountability Office also reported that the caseload for the department’s Office for Civil Rights increased by an average of 98 cases per week during part of the time that these staffers were on paid leave. - GovExec

Mon, Jan 26, 2026:

• The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) estimated that the Medicare Advantage (MA) program will be overpaid by roughly $76 billion in 2026. If continued, we estimate this would translate to $1.2 trillion of overpayments through 2035. Policymakers should work to reduce these overpayments, which would save significant money for taxpayers and Medicare beneficiaries alike. - CRFB

Wed, Jan 14, 2026:

• Federal government loses billions annually to fraud, GAO report reveals - GAO

Thurs, Dec 11, 2025:

• Minnesota fraud case is biggest among many multimillion-dollar pandemic scams. Here are the 10 most costly. – CBS