Now that the 2024 election is behind us and attention has turned to the transition to the new Trump administration, it’s a good time to consider the opportunities for the new administration—and a Republican controlled Congress— to improve the integrity and efficiency of government spending.

And be clear: These two words — integrity and efficiency — must go together.

The Trump administration’s announcement of a new “Manhattan Project” aimed at making government more efficient — the Department of Government Efficiency to be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy — could pave the way for real reform and improved efficiency. But the success factors of this effort must include integrity — safeguarding taxpayer dollars from fraud.

Though Republicans control both branches of government, their majorities are narrow and bi-partisanship is still going to be needed to enact major changes in many programs, and especially in spending decisions. While eliminating whole programs may save money, it will be difficult to get bi-partisan support for many of those reforms.

And this is where integrity comes in.

It is true that there is far too much waste, as well as fraud and abuse, in government programs. Looking for ways to reduce fraud, waste and abuse is vital for safeguarding the integrity of taxpayer dollars, which has been an afterthought among government leaders for far too long.

Some numbers for context: The Government Accountability Office estimates that the government loses up to $521 billion every year to fraud. And improper payments in government programs have risen steadily over the last 20 years, sitting at $236 billion in 2023.

The pandemic ushered in a new era of fraud targeting government programs, and this is the world we now live in. A laser focus on stopping fraudsters steal from government programs—from petty criminals to organized nation state actors—can save billions in taxpayer dollars—possibly upwards of a half a trillion dollars a year. And almost as importantly, it can help rebuild American citizens’ trust in government as a steward of their tax dollars.

Some areas for Musk and Ramaswamy to focus on:

• Emphasize prevention of fraud over detection; stop paying and chasing. Agencies should apply proactive fraud risk management activities to identify potential fraud schemes and mitigate them with preventative controls before they happen. Instead, the focus today is on getting funds out the door and trying to claw it back later, once the fraud has occurred, which typically yields a recovery of a fraction of the amount of funds stolen.
• Incentivize senior leaders to pay attention to fraud, waste and abuse. This can include developing performance metrics tied to integrity goals and requiring leaders of high-risk programs to testify before Congress on their anti-fraud activities annually. Other innovative approaches using a mix of carrots and sticks should be explored.
• Require agencies to validate the data they receive from applicants to government benefits programs. According to improper payments reporting by high-risk agencies, the primary root cause of improper payments is failure to verify data from applicants. Using third party data checks, such as social security number validation, bank account verification or identity verification tools, will help ensure fraudsters don’t succeed in stealing federal funds.
• Focus on outcomes—stop requiring meaningless, check-the-box compliance activities related to improper payments reporting. Require agencies to put in place data-driven solutions and report on their outcomes in terms of loss avoidance or reduction in fraud losses and improper payments, in lieu of reporting requirements that are focused on processes and encourage rote activities unrelated to addressing the root causes of fraud.
• Invest in technology focused on identifying fraud, waste and abuse before making a payment. Finding fraud requires technology that uncovers hidden relationships, anomalous transactions and other patterns that are difficult if not impossible to see without analytics tools. Investing in these tools for those programs at highest risk of fraud and improper payments would yield a significant return on investment.
• Stop villainizing data; privacy protection and fraud prevention can coexist. Outdated privacy laws and cultural barriers to collecting and sharing data make agencies hesitant or unwilling to look for ways to use data to identify fraud, waste and abuse in their programs. Fraud actors already have every American’s personal data, and they are monetizing it to an alarming degree. Government agencies must recognize that data can be used responsibly to protect citizens and safeguard taxpayer dollars from fraud.

There are currently hundreds of open recommendations proposed by the GAO and Inspectors General (IGs) across the federal government that explicitly target ways the government can strengthen integrity and combat fraud. GAO’s annual report on opportunities to save money and reduce fragmentation, overlap, and duplication—now in its 14th year—proposes hundreds of other recommendations for Congress and the government to boost efficiency and save billions more in taxpayer money by their own estimates. This is a good place to start.

In a recent testimony before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, I emphasized a simple truth: Fraud is a whole-of-government problem requiring coordinated, whole-of-government solutions. There are a number of steps that Congress and the federal government can take to reduce improper payments and fraud following an economic stimulus-fueled bonanza for fraudsters.

But  make no mistake: These problems are complex and Musk and Ramaswamy have their work cut out for them.

I agree with the Trump administration’s intent to look to solutions outside of government. The government needs to approach this problem like the private sector does—with data and technology, and an understanding that fighting fraud requires investments in innovative tools.

Agencies need greater incentives to proactively mitigate fraud risks. And the government as a whole needs to improve data access and sharing to strengthen fraud prevention. The benefits of investing in data-driven approaches extend beyond the direct financial impact of preventing improper payments and fraud. Increased data use can also significantly reduce administrative burdens on honest Americans who deserve efficient interactions with the government.

We should welcome fresh ideas and attention to the challenge of fraud, waste and abuse in government programs, especially if it helps to rally bi-partisan support. The new focus on efficiency offers an opportunity to advance the best ideas already on the table and forge the whole-of-government alliances necessary to turn them into tangible improvements for the American people.

Linda Miller is a fraud risk subject matter expert and the former deputy executive director of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC). She is the founder and chairwoman of the Program Integrity Alliance, a non-governmental organization aimed at strengthening data-driven fraud prevention in the U.S. government. www.programintegrity.org.

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