In another groundbreaking discovery, DOGE used a new automated system to uncover a reported $334 million in improper payment requests within the span of just one week, with the agency’s X account reporting that the sum included requests that were unauthorized and invalid.
For context, in a post shared on X on April 29, 2025, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) confirmed that they had successfully completed an investigation into the Treasury Access Symbol (TAS), an identification code that links U.S. Treasury payments to items in the federal budget. According to previous statements from DOGE, the TAS field has been left blank in countless payments, leading to the potential for millions to be wasted.
Posting on X, a DOGE spokesperson provided more background on the investigation, saying, “Last week, Treasury went live with its first automated payment verification system. In total, $334 million in improper payment requests were identified and rejected.” They added that payments were rejected due to “missing budget codes, invalid budget codes (i.e., the payment was not linked to the budget, and budget codes with no authorization (i.e., the budget had already been fully spent).”
Furthermore, in a previous post from DOGE published on February 17, 2025, an agency spokesperson explained the context for their investigation, saying, “In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible.” They added, “As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going. Thanks to @USTreasury for the great work.”
Following the reveal of DOGE’s work on X, conservatives sounded off in the comments section, with the user The Undercurrent writing, “So let me get this straight, our government was handing out trillions with fewer checks than a Chuck E. Cheese arcade, and we’re just now fixing that? How is this not the biggest story in the country?”
Another X user chimed in to express their admiration for DOGE’s work, saying, “A good audit team would have found that. That’s why we need an outsourced audit team not politically connected. Ethical standards are a must. @DOGE is that team! Good job!”
DOGE’s recent discovery was made public shortly after the agency’s work led to the dramatic restructuring of AmeriCorps, which was gutted after it reportedly failed a major audit by DOGE. In response to DOGE’s work in cutting back waste and fraud at AmeriCorps, the conservative commentator Amuse wrote on X, “AmeriCorps was a viper’s nest of DEI and climate change initiatives. With a budget north of $1 billion the agency was rife with fraud, waste, and abuse failing 8 consecutive audits.”
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Continuing, Amuse explained, “Biden’s Inspector General admitted that he had no idea when the agency could pass an audit. DOGE is gutting the agency.” In response, conservatives in the comments section described AmeriCorps as “an Obama invention” and declared, “SHUT IT DOWN.”
Featured image credit: Elon Musk via X