Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Politics

Expert reveals massive levels of waste DOGE can slash from entitlements, pet projects: ‘A lot of fat’

by February 14, 2025
February 14, 2025

As Democrats blast Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts as a ‘constitutional crisis,’ Fox News Digital spoke to a government spending expert who explained that many departments, including entitlements, are ripe with fat that can and should be cut. 

James Agresti, president of the nonprofit research institute Just Facts, spoke to Fox News Digital about some of the opportunities to make cuts to entitlements and pointed to $2 billion worth of improper payments at the Social Security Administration (SSA) in 2022, which was enough to pay 89,947 retired workers in 2023.

‘It’s hard to wrap your head around a figure like that,’ Agresti said. ‘There’s a lot of fat in Social Security, as there are in almost all entitlement programs.’

The SSA sent roughly 7,000 federal employees disability benefits in 2008 while they were still taking wages from federal jobs, according to a 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The GAO estimated that about 1,500 of those individuals ‘may have improperly received benefits’ since their wages went beyond maximum income thresholds. The GAO investigation also found that over 71,000 ‘stimulus checks’ were sent by the Obama administration to people who were deceased, including 63,481 people whose deaths had been previously reported to the agency.

President Donald Trump and Musk have signaled concerns about illegal immigrants with Social Security numbers contributing to fraud at SSA, which Agresti said are concerns backed up by facts.

In 2010, the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration did a study of this problem, and it found that there were 800,000 noncitizens who had Social Security numbers and were working under them, which means they can receive benefits on them, and they obtain those Social Security numbers by submitting false birth certificates to the Social Security Administration,’ Agresti said.

Agresti explained that there are similar problems at the Internal Revenue Service ‘where they’re doling out child tax credits for the children of illegal immigrants, and they are basically accepting anything that’s thrown at them.’

There was an investigation back several years ago where the same birth certificate was issued, it was given to them in numerous cases to get these child tax credits, and they just gave it to them,’ Agresti said. ‘There was absolutely no accountability. In fact, the order from management was just get it done, get it off your desk. Don’t worry about investigating whether or not it’s legit and this is quite frankly, it’s theft.’

‘It’s stealing from the US taxpayers, it’s stealing from the government. And certain people have just come to tolerate it. And quite frankly, I just think that’s ridiculous. We would never tolerate this in our regular life. Somebody ripping us off for 10, 20% of our income.’

Agresti told Fox News Digital that Social Security is ‘actually one of the better ones’ when compared to other entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid, where the improper payments are ‘astronomical’ and ‘sometimes five, 10, 15%, 20% with the Children’s Health Insurance Program.’

Speaking about the IRS, Agresti said it has essentially become a ‘welfare program’ with the introduction of congressional laws that issue refundable tax credits’ and said there are ‘massively’ high improper payments in the agency, particularly with the earned income tax credit and child tax credit. 

Democrats have been vocally railing against Trump and Musk’s DOGE efforts, particularly when it comes to entitlement programs, where they argue that the administration is attempting to strip legitimate earned benefits owed to taxpayers. 

Agresti told Fox News Digital that ‘nothing could be further from the truth’ and when it comes to social security, DOGE is ‘trying to make sure that your Social Security check is there and not lost to fraud.’

I think we’re seeing one big obstacle right now, the Democratic Party, which is going after it and demonizing Trump and Musk for making a good faith effort to fix this kind of problem, and I don’t see the reason for it,’ Agresti said. ‘I don’t see the motivation for it. But it’s ridiculous that they’re misconstruing what they’re doing.’

The federal government is a behemoth, and it’s got a lot of tentacles. A lot of employees and governments are infamous for having very low accountability for their employees. It’s just the way it’s always been.’

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Trump’s tariff threat: UK businesses could face higher trade taxes
next post
Head of UN watchdog says UNRWA hired people ‘who were supporting terrorism’

You may also like

Republicans respond to Biden’s Oval Office speech that...

October 20, 2023

Pause in US foreign aid has UN in...

March 6, 2025

Biden calls Trump a ‘convicted felon,’ says 2020...

June 4, 2024

House committee says Fauci ‘prompted’ drafting of medical...

March 6, 2023

CNN’s Dana Bash Confronts Biden Econ Advisor on...

October 16, 2022

Trump-backed bill to stop ‘rogue’ judges passes House

April 10, 2025

Biden sinks to all-time low, while Trump’s numbers...

December 18, 2024

Sen. Rand Paul says criticism of Ukraine funding...

October 5, 2023

Obama cheers Biden judicial milestone as former adviser...

May 23, 2024

Fox News Poll: Top reactions to AI? Voters...

May 27, 2023

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • What Happens When the S&P 500 Breaks Below Gap Support?

      May 23, 2025
    • Trump signs executive orders bolstering nuclear industry, domestic uranium mining

      May 23, 2025
    • Friday Feature: LUMIN Schools

      May 23, 2025
    • Shifts, Not Shocks: Rethinking Rust Belt Decline

      May 23, 2025
    • Tariffs on Imports from China Are Still Too High

      May 23, 2025
    • US and Iran clash over uranium enrichment as nuclear talks resume in Rome

      May 23, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,036)
    • Investing (1,986)
    • Politics (15,360)
    • Stocks (3,102)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved