11.1 - Funding Trends

The federal government awards billions of dollars in federal grants and cooperative agreements are awarded each year. However, much of these funds can be deemed improper payments. In federal fiscal year (FY) 2023, for example, 18 federal agencies estimated an improper payment amount at $236 billion covering 71 programs. These improper payments highlight recipient issues, some of which are associated with waste, fraud and abuse, and some of which are simply caused by mistakes, such as the wrong amount paid to the wrong entity for the wrong reasons with the wrong documentation. Some improper payments even went to individuals who were dead or to jailed felons who were ineligible… Read More