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‘This is a big deal’: $334 million in improper payment requests were identified and rejected by Treasury

April 30, 2025 | | Print Article

An update from DOGE proved the benefit of one simple change at the U.S. Treasury Department that flagged hundreds of millions of dollars in “improper payment requests.”

Hardly a surprise to anyone familiar with the business of the federal government, especially those who’ve seen Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s (R) annual Festivus Report, out-of-control spending has become a feature rather than a bug. Seeking to correct that, the Department of Government Efficiency’s tweak to a coding system within the Treasury Department has already proved its worth in calling out $334 million in payments to reject since going live.

“This is a big deal,” said DOGE head Elon Musk as he shared the update that read, “Last week, Treasury went live with its first automated payment verification system. In total, $334 million in improper payment requests were identified and rejected …”

DOGE faulted missing budget codes, invalid budget codes, and budget codes with no authorization. Examples of the latter two included payments not linked to the budget and those made after the budget had already been spent.

In sharing the update, the advisory group captioned a post from February that pointed out the Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) had been left optional by the federal government regarding roughly $4.7 trillion worth of payments, making those transactions nearly impossible to trace. Under the advisement of DOGE, that field was no longer optional.

Similar savings were highlighted by U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan in a video reposted by Musk, where it was explained, “The business of the Navy continues, even when I’m overseas visiting our Marines in Okinawa. Today, I’m signing an order canceling the implementation of an obsolete and redundant online portal the Navy no longer needs.”

“Canceling this contract will save $300 million so we can spend more on our sailors, and our Marines and our readiness,” added Phelan. “Since working with DOGE, the Department of the Navy has saved an estimated $587 million. Thanks!”

The latest from President Donald Trump’s advisory group on efficiency comes as Musk was expected to “significantly” decrease his direct involvement in May.

“I’ll have to continue doing it for I think the remainder of the president’s term just to make sure the waste and fraud that we stopped does not come roaring back, which it will do if it has the chance,” he explained during a Tesla earnings call. “I think I’ll continue to spend a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the president would like me to do so and as long as it would be useful.”

In aspiring for a goal of cutting $2 trillion from federal spending by July 2026, DOGE estimated that it had already saved about $160 billion, or the equivalent of nearly $1,000 per taxpayer.

Kevin Haggerty
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