The US government has misspent almost $3 trillion since 2003, leading government auditors to make a fresh call for a federal data analytics centre " a proposal first suggested in 2022. Total improper payments reached $185.8 billion in 2025 alone, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) " up $24 billion on 2024 in the first rise for the statistic since 2021. Overpayments by federal agencies were the largest problem, accounting for 82% of the misspending, and just five programmes misspent $135.8 billion, with Medicare making $57 billion in improper payments.