This is insane.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) revealed Friday that it successfully recovered nearly $2 billion in misallocated funds by the Biden administration, a massive amount originally meant for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This recovery came just one day after HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced the creation of a special DOGE task force within his agency, aimed at improving financial oversight and accountability.
DOGE posted on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “1.9 billion dollars of HUD money were just found after being ‘lost’ within Biden’s term due to a broken process.” These funds, initially designated for financial services administration, were no longer required and had been left unaccounted for until now.
Elon Musk, the head of DOGE, emphasized the value of efficient government management in a post that highlighted how such large sums of taxpayer money can be safeguarded with minimal effort. Musk noted that this collaborative recovery effort between DOGE and Turner will now free up these funds to be used more effectively by the Treasury.
The funds were tied to contracts with Carrington Mortgage Services and Selene Finance from August 2019. If left unchecked, these contracts would have resulted in payouts of over $1.5 billion to both companies, respectively.
Turner, a former NFL cornerback turned housing developer in Dallas, was recently confirmed by the Senate to lead HUD. At his confirmation, Turner expressed his commitment to reforming HUD’s financial processes, stating, “We are going to be extremely detailed and deliberate about each dollar being spent in tending to the needs of tribal, rural, and urban communities across America.”
Turner also made it clear that under the leadership of President Trump, there would be no more tolerance for the “business as usual” approach to government spending. “With the help of DOGE, we will eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse,” he added. Before recovering the $1.9 billion, HUD had already identified $260 million in savings, signaling a much-needed shift in how taxpayer dollars are managed and protected.