Government Accountability official says fraud does exist, but it’s not widespread : NPR

President Trump and Elon Musk have vowed to reveal and eliminate federal fraud. The White House pointed to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) as evidence and justification for its continued efforts to take over and dismantle federal agencies.

GAO is an agency under Congress that provides lawmakers and executive agencies with information about the efficient and effective components of the federal government doing their work.

So far, the Trump administration has provided no clear evidence of fraud.

Instead, Doge X account and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pointed to Dei’s exclusion. Diversity, equity, inclusion – Contact and other spending that does not match the political priorities of the administration.

In a memo on Wednesday, the administration said “Trump has decided to be a good manager of the taxpayer dollars and will end fraudulent and useless spending,” and attached a GAO report.

Its co-author ReportGAO director Rebecca Shea, told NPR that government fraud and waste account for an estimated 3% and 7% of federal spending, while the overwhelming majority of federal spending is not fraud.

Shea also noted that the report narrowly defines fraud — and that definition does not match the definition of Trump and Musk. “To call any fraud, you need to prove it in a criminal or civil case,” she said.

Shea added that she will decide it will take a long time to find a scam and will take longer. This is something scammers use. In her GAO report, Shea proposed that artificial intelligence (AI) could help the government capture fraud.

“It could evolve much faster than humans might see the data itself,” Shea said. “AI offers promises when data systems are available. There are quite a few real structured data sets that we think can be easily used for fraud detection, predictive modeling using AI capabilities.”

Musk’s Doge is reportedly working on a custom AI chatbot called “GSAI” to reduce spending. Magazine Wired.

However, Shea warned that government AI use creates its own risk.

“The other side is that scammers are already using AI to fraudulent federal programs,” Shea said. “And they’re not hampered by the same guidelines and laws that the US government is like when it comes to AI. Scammers aren’t hampered in the same way.”

People from “every life course” have committed fraud, even those within the government.

“It’s going to be an insider threat everywhere,” Shia said. “There were government officials who were mixed. Public servants, contractors, among those charged by the Department of Justice.”

While defending Doge and its efforts, Musk calls America “bureaucracy” rather than democracy.

“We need a second American revolution to free people from bureaucratic oppression!” Posted.

“We are delighted that people are using our reports. Our information has found information that can be useful in discussions to try to improve federal services,” Shea said. “We have a duty of care for taxpayers and we can do better, and we hope that our report will help us move in that right direction.”

When asked directly about the mask and the Ministry of Government Efficiency (DOGE) unit, Shia did not comment.

“I’ll refrain from expressing my opinion on that,” Shea said. “It’s outside of my wheelhouse.”

Shea confirmed that General Jean Dodaro, the US Secretary who has overseen GAO since 2008, had contacted the Trump administration after taking office, but as customarily, she personally has been a mask, clumsy and personal. He said he had not contacted or cooperated with the author.

Overall, Shea said the government is a good custodian of taxpayer dollars and hopes to improve.

“[Annual fraud] It represents between 3% and 7% of the annual federal budget for that period, Shea said. “Yes, that’s a big number, but the majority of the spending is not fraud.