The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said on Feb. 17 that a total of $4.7 trillion worth of payments from the Treasury Department are almost impossible to trace because of missing account identification codes.
DOGE said the Treasury Department has assigned identification codes called Treasury Access Symbols (TAS), designed to note which account a Treasury payment is linked to, which DOGE said was a “standard financial process” for bookkeeping. However, the codes were not assigned for trillions of dollars worth of payments as the field was considered optional, according to the agency.
“In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible,” DOGE stated on the social media platform X.
“As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going. Thanks to U.S. Treasury for the great work.”
According to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, TAS codes are identification codes assigned by the Treasury to “an individual appropriation, receipt, or other fund account.”
It stated that all financial transactions made by the federal government are typically classified using a TAS code for reporting to the Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget.
Savings Found
DOGE, headed by SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, also proposed on Monday to eliminate paper checks at the Treasury to help save U.S. taxpayers’ money.
According to the advisory commission created by President Donald Trump, the Treasury processed 116 million paper checks in the fiscal year 2024 and stored them in a lockbox. The estimated cost of maintaining the lockbox is $2.40 per check, it stated.
DOGE also stated that some $25 billion in tax refunds were delayed or lost due to return of expired checks during the fiscal year 2023.
“Deleting paper checks would save at least $750 million per year,” the commission stated on social media platform X.
Trump replaced the existing United States Digital Service with DOGE and asked the commission to review federal agencies for potential downsizing and cost reductions. Trump would have to approve any proposals made by DOGE, which only has a fact-finding and advisory function.
To conduct audits, DOGE has been granted access to federal systems, sparking legal challenges from some Democratic lawmakers and labor unions who argued the access is unconstitutional.
DOGE reported that it found an estimated total savings of $55 billion on Feb. 17, which it said would come from a mix of “fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings.”
“We are working to upload all of this data in a digestible and fully transparent manner with clear assumptions, consistent with applicable rules and regulations,” DOGE stated on its website.
As of Feb. 17, DOGE placed the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) first in its list of top 10 agencies based on total contract savings, followed by the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management. DOGE said its reporting website will be updated twice per week.
Attorneys general from 14 states filed a lawsuit on Feb. 13 challenging the Trump administration’s delegation of government access to Musk. The coalition, led by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, alleged that the “sweeping authority” granted by the administration to Musk is unconstitutional because he has not been confirmed by the Senate.
The attorneys general asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order barring Musk and DOGE from making any changes to the disbursement of public funds, canceling government contracts, accessing sensitive agency data, and altering agency data systems.
Trump told reporters at the White House earlier in February that Musk “can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval, and we’ll give him the approval where appropriate; where not appropriate, we won’t.”
“He reports in,” the president said.
Musk told reporters at the White House on Feb. 11 that Trump and the GOP’s ability to win a government trifecta in the 2024 election was a broader mandate for DOGE’s efforts.
“The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what people are going to get,” the tech billionaire said. “That’s what democracy is all about.”
The White House previously said that Musk is a special government employee under the Trump administration. The position means that Musk’s service would only be temporary.
Jacob Burg contributed to this report.
“To conduct audits, DOGE has been granted access to federal systems, sparking legal challenges from some Democratic lawmakers and labor unions who argued the access is unconstitutional.” Two of the most corrupt, dishonest groups in the U.S..
“The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what people are going to get,” the tech billionaire said. “That’s what democracy is all about.”
Try auditing every politician who when he /she retires is over 10 times richer than the sum total of all his ogernment salaries paid, which means he either got laundered illegal money under the table, or was working another job when he was supposed to be working and getting paid by THE PEOPLE for a bouble dipping double cross. The ones crying the loudest against DOGE getting access to their IRS records are the dirtiest of the bunch, and most worthy for fines and jail sentences. Take out and jail a few of the TOP offenders and the rest will fall back in line. A return on this kind of investigative investment could yield TRILLIONS back to THE PEOPLE.
ALSO we need to see what officials SIGNED OFF on making all these fraudulent programs, and mannerisms that ALLOW ALL OF this waste/fraud and abuse to have happened.
“Under former President Joe Biden, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, a government agency, made $127 million in overpayments to a Teamsters pension fund with nearly 3,500 dead members — before reaching a settlement with the DOJ to return the funds.”
AND how many folks WENT TO JAIL over that?! Anyone?
“To conduct audits, DOGE has been granted access to federal systems, sparking legal challenges from some Democratic lawmakers and labor unions who argued the access is unconstitutional.”
What person in their right mind would give these people money (of their own free will) without knowing what it was going to be used for?
On another note, I was under the impression that Democrats were totally onboard with fundamentally transforming America and the continuous “revolution”. Conservatives are perhaps late to the party but lets rock this joint.
Worried about Musk not confirmed by the Senate? Should be worrying about the tens of thousands of government employees who have access to “sensitive” data that have not been confirmed by the senate and in most cases received only a cursory background check. Must be worried about Musk accessing grandma’s personal info so he can run out and get a credit card for $500 in her name. I’m more worried about clowns like Swallowwell and Chuck you Schumer
When do the prosecutions start? It’s going to take quite a while to get these thieves convicted and incarcerated. It is mind boggling that this has been going on so long without serious consequences. This is one of the most significant periods of American politics in many, many decades.
WHY incarcerate.. Start building the gallows…. Its gonna get lots of use..
Does anyone doubt that this level of financial unaccountability would have been impossible, if the program were being run at the state level? Okay, I suppose Workers’ Paradises such as Massachusetts and California would have been fine with it, but for the states where enough people pay taxes to care that their hard-earned money isn’t being laundered through government agencies for partisan purposes, this would have been uncovered and addressed years ago.
Only in the distant Swamp can the murky waters conceal such things from the watchful eye of The People.
Some states still would have had this amount of Gross incompetence, but it wouldn’t have gotten THIS BAD, had the states retained control over a LOT OF THINGS..
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said on Feb. 17 that a total of $4.7 trillion worth of payments from the Treasury Department are almost impossible to trace because of missing account identification codes.
Brandon and Cackles the Clown need to be dragged back to Washington and held accountable for what happened under their admin !!
AND it makes me wonder, WAS THAT “LACKING OF ACCOUNT ID CODES” done due to MALFESANCE, or gross incompetence!?
I have read that the missing billions intended for Ukraine are missing due to United States bookkeeping.
Where is Joe?
If my whole employment hinged on being able to fill out a form completely, I would want to be able to do it.
And I cant help myself. If someone asked me to screen or outright hide where taxpayer money was going I would have to blow a big fat whistle.