Management
Taxes are due even if you object to government policies or doubt the validity of the 16th Amendment’s ratification
The IRS "has stated repeatedly that a taxpayer does not have the right to refuse to pay taxes based on religious or moral beliefs."
Pay & Benefits
Slam the Scam
Some tips for avoiding scams and resources for help if you become victim to a scam artist.
Management
Using AI to fight fraud is paying off, Treasury says
The tech has helped recover over $375 million since Treasury began using it over a year ago.
Oversight
The FTC is attacking drugmakers’ ‘patent thickets’
The agency says drugmakers illegitimately use the patents to prevent competitors from offering cheaper generic alternatives.
Oversight
Former DHS employees sentenced for plot to steal government software, databases
The trio wanted to to build a commercial software product that would have been sold to government agencies.
Oversight
Social Security clawbacks hit a million more people than the agency chief told Congress
At issue is the scope of a problem that has terrified many Social Security beneficiaries and plunged them into financial distress.
Oversight
In Congress, calls mount for Social Security to address clawbacks
The Social Security Administration routinely sends notices to beneficiaries saying they received benefits to which they weren’t entitled — and demanding they pay the government back, often within 30 days.
Oversight
From payment accuracy to program integrity
COMMENTARY | The staggering level of pandemic fraud coupled with mounting concerns about the size and trajectory of the nation’s debt load should elevate program integrity as a top management focus, writes one observer.
Oversight
How more than $600M in COVID relief funds awarded last year went unreported
The problem is even bigger this year, according to the Government Accountability Office. The lack of reporting makes it difficult to track fraud, waste and abuse.
Oversight
Social Security overpayments draw scrutiny and outrage from members of Congress
SSA recovered $4.7 billion of overpayments during the 2022 fiscal year but ended that year with $21.6 billion of overpayments still uncollected, according to a November 2022 report by department’s inspector general.
Oversight
Pandemic unemployment fraud as high as $135B, watchdog says
The Government Accountability Office's new estimate underscores the urgency of modernizing state-based unemployment insurance systems.
Oversight
Want to track pandemic relief spending? Data problems make that difficult, committee says
“These challenges limit the degree of transparency into the use of pandemic relief funds,” a new report from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee says.
Tech
How some agencies used tech to decrease improper payments
Governmentwide, improper payments are up relative to fiscal year 2020. But digital tools — alongside other management tactics — enabled some agencies to find reductions.
Management
New Report Identifies Over $100B in Potential Government Services Savings
The government’s overlapping, fragmented and duplicative services are costing billions of dollars annually, a Government Accountability Office report claims.
Oversight
ATF Misclassified Jobs. A Senator Wants the Justice Department to Dig Deeper.
Citing concerns by the whistleblowers who triggered the investigation that found that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had systematically misclassified administrative jobs as law enforcement-related, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, asked the Justice Department to do a more thorough investigation.
Oversight
Trump’s Global Media CEO Abused Authority and Wasted Funds, Review Finds
New agency leadership has been working to restore the agency’s operations and make corrective reforms.
Oversight
The Wheels that Squeak: Why Preventing Fraud is Not a Government Priority
Agency leaders need more institutional incentives to manage fraud, waste, and abuse in their programs systemically, argues one former member of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.
Oversight
OSC: ATF Wasted At Least $10 Million Misclassifying Administrative Jobs as Law Enforcement
Although OPM and ATF investigations found around 100 positions within the agency’s HR department were improperly provided enhanced law enforcement pay and benefits, the whistleblowers who prompted the probe said the problem is more widespread than that.
Management
Coronavirus Roundup: A Spotlight on Improper Payments in COVID Relief Programs
There’s a lot to keep track of. Here’s a list of this week’s news updates and stories you may have missed.
Oversight
President Biden Issues a Sweeping Anti-COVID Fraud Proposal
One piece would be to give law enforcement and oversight agencies more time and resources to go after fraudsters.
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