Social media has been flooded with claims that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk under the Trump administration, uncovered $2.7 trillion in fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid payments made to individuals overseas. However, these claims are misleading and lack factual evidence.
The Claim: $2.7 Trillion in Fraudulent Payments Uncovered by DOGE
Between February 12–14, 2024, viral posts on Threads, Facebook, and Instagram began circulating a claim that a DOGE subcommittee had discovered $2.7 trillion in improper Medicare and Medicaid payments made to people outside the U.S.
The rumor gained traction after Brian Glenn, a reporter from Real America’s Voice, raised the issue during a White House press briefing. Glenn referenced Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s subcommittee, suggesting that the payments were fraudulent and linked to overseas recipients.
Elon Musk further amplified the claim by reposting it on X (formerly Twitter) with a politically charged comment:
“Well, maybe this explains why the Democrats don’t want DOGE to investigate.”
The Truth: No New Discovery by DOGE
The claim is false for several reasons:
1. The $2.7 Trillion Figure Is Not New
This figure isn’t a recent discovery by DOGE or any congressional subcommittee. Instead, it comes from reports by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)—a nonpartisan congressional agency that has been tracking improper payments since 2003.
In reports published on March 26, 2024, and June 27, 2024, the GAO estimated that federal agencies had made $2.7 trillion in improper payments over two decades. These payments were categorized as:
- Payments made in incorrect amounts
- Payments made to ineligible recipients
- Payments made due to administrative errors
2. No Evidence of Overseas Payments
The GAO reports never suggested that these payments were sent to people outside the U.S. The claims of overseas fraud appear to be entirely fabricated or misinterpreted from unrelated data.
3. Not Exclusive to Medicare and Medicaid
The $2.7 trillion figure includes improper payments across a wide range of federal programs, such as:
- Medicare and Medicaid
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- Unemployment Insurance
- Social Security
What Are Improper Payments?
According to the GAO, an improper payment refers to:
“A payment that should not have been made or was made in an incorrect amount, whether under statutory, contractual, administrative, or other legally applicable requirements.”
These errors can result from:
- Clerical mistakes
- Miscalculations
- Lack of proper documentation
- Fraudulent activities (though this is less common)
How the Misinformation Spread
The confusion around this issue seems to have originated from misinterpretations of the February 12 subcommittee hearing led by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.). Comer mentioned that the federal government had “lost $2.7 trillion due to improper payments” since 2003 but did not specifically link the losses to:
- Overseas recipients
- Exclusive Medicare or Medicaid fraud
Despite this, the figure was distorted by political commentators, amplified by influencers, and quickly went viral on social media platforms.
Official Clarifications
Several credible sources, including fact-checkers and Meta’s misinformation detection team, have flagged these posts as false. The White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, also did not confirm the false claims but instead mentioned DOGE’s general focus on addressing government waste—without linking it directly to the $2.7 trillion figure.
