Government Watchdogs Failed To Stop Massive Money Loss


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Bill Maher recently shared an intriguing perspective on President Trump’s controversial dismissal of multiple inspectors general. During his HBO show “Real Time,” Maher admitted to reconsidering his initial criticism of these firings after examining the substantial financial losses the federal government faces due to fraud.

Drawing attention to official data from the Government Accountability Office, Maher emphasized the staggering annual losses, stating, “I do know this, because this comes from the Government Accountability Office, that’s not the Trump administration, the federal government loses an estimated 233 to 521 billion annually to fraud.”

While discussing Trump’s early decision to remove the inspectors general, Maher reflected on the effectiveness of their oversight given these massive losses. “So, when Trump fired, — the first thing he did [is fire] all the inspectors general. And I thought, well, that’s not good, that’s their job to watchdog stuff. But if you’re losing $521 billion a year, how good are you watchdogging? You’ve got to — I’m not saying we should have fired them.”

The host maintained a balanced view, acknowledging his uncertainty about whether all the inspectors general deserved to be dismissed, while simultaneously questioning their effectiveness as government watchdogs given the extensive financial fraud occurring under their supervision.