| The GAO sent the report to leaders of two congressional committees. They were not pleased. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said: “This report shows that federal agencies are routinely failing to comply with the laws that require accountability and transparency. The truth is that this lack of compliance could mean that the total amount of improper payments is even higher than the $136.7 billion estimate from 2015. This report is yet another symptom of a federal government that has grown so massive, and spends such vast sums of taxpayer money, that the bureaucrats in Washington can no longer manage it.” Sen. Thomas R. Carper (Del.), the top Democrat on the committee, was not quite as critical. “GAO’s latest report shows that much work still needs to be done to ensure that agencies are doing all they can to reduce wasteful, improper payments and better manage the resources we entrust to them,” he said. “While many have made significant strides to decrease wasteful spending over the past several years, we are not across the finish line.” Instances of improper payments include cases in which the government paid out too little, but those cases are relatively rare. Only $11 billion, or 8 percent, of the $136.7 billion represented underpayments, according to paymentaccuracy.gov, a website organized by the Treasury, along with the Justice Department and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In a written response to Beryl Davis, GAO’s director of financial management assurance, OMB said “addressing improper payments has been and continues to be a central component of the Administration’s overall efforts to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse. … The Administration remains committed to achieving our mutual objective of achieving payment accuracy and integrity in Federal programs.” | 