Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency Chairman Tim Burchett announced on Mar. 25 the opening of a roundtable titled “Doing More With Less: Deleting Duplicative Programs.” In his prepared remarks, Burchett said the federal government currently spends about $7 trillion each year across more than 2,400 assistance programs, which is more than double the number from the 1970s.
The issue of overlapping and duplicative federal programs has drawn attention as Congress faces growing deficits and national debt. Burchett said addressing duplication is important for both Republicans and Democrats. He added that he recently met with Ranking Member Melanie Stansbury to discuss bipartisan topics related to the nation’s fiscal future.
“I intend to do all I can with this subcommittee to rein in the spiraling deficits and $39 trillion in debt that threatens the fabric of our great Nation,” Burchett said. He also pointed out that there is no official count of federal agencies, but more than 400 are listed in the Federal Register. According to Burchett, “the number of federal financial assistance programs rose from just over 1,000 in 1970 to more than 2,400 in 2023.”
Burchett highlighted past congressional efforts such as a provision in a 2010 bill that required annual reporting by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on duplication within government operations. “Since that time, GAO has chronicled a vast web of duplicative, overlapping and fragmented federal government activities,” he said.
He further noted concerns about fraud within welfare programs: “GAO has estimated that the federal government loses up to half a trillion dollars annually due to fraud.” Burchett attributed some of this loss to what he called an outdated network of state- and federally-administered welfare systems which can be difficult for eligible Americans to navigate while being attractive targets for fraudsters.
The roundtable featured several guests including Orice Williams Brown, Acting Comptroller General at GAO; Paul Winfree, President and CEO at Economic Policy Innovation Center; Matt Weidinger from American Enterprise Institute; and Bobby Kogan from Center for American Progress. The discussion aimed at reviewing recommendations by GAO and other experts regarding ways Congress could address program duplication and improve efficiency.
