The U.S. government messed up $136.7 billion of payments last fiscal year

The U.S. Government $136.7 billion in improper payments last year.

(Image credit: ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP/Getty Images)

published 14 July 2016

The federal government's mistakes have cost America big time — literally. The latest report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that, in the fiscal year 2015, $136.7 billion was lost in "improper payments," which the report defines as "payments that should not have been made or were made in incorrect amounts."

As if that multi-billion-dollar figure weren't alarming enough, GAO reported that the feds' problem with improper payments has skyrocketed in recent years. To wit: The monetary total in 2015 was a whopping $30 billion more than the total in the fiscal year 2013.