Dan Lips is a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation and a former policy director with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
When the US Congress returns from its summer recess in September, lawmakers will have a month to negotiate a spending deal to avoid a government shutdown. This debate will further expose partisan divisions on fiscal policy and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s cost-cutting moves. Behind the scenes, however, the Trump administration is working with Congress to enact comprehensive reforms to prevent wasteful spending, which have long-standing bipartisan support.
Altogether, the US government’s misspending costs hundreds of billions of dollars each year. In 2024, federal departments and agencies made $162bn in improper payments.