Feb. 10, 2025
Government efficiency, across all levels, is more than a slogan to me. Being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars is one of the most important responsibilities entrusted to elected officials. For far too long, corrupt politicians and unelected bureaucrats from both sides of the aisle have been abusing those they are supposed to serve for their own gain. I am very pleased to see President Donald Trump mirror my concerns and efforts to curb reckless spending at the federal level. While previous administrations wanted to hire more federal agents to investigate everyday Americans, this president has shown a commitment to finally hold the U.S. government accountable to the people it serves.
Malicious acts aside, the amount of money the federal government wastes in improper payments is astounding. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the federal government spent $2.7 trillion in improper payments since 2003. This means, on a yearly average, the United States government loses approximately three-times Pennsylvania’s yearly budget in payments which should have not been made. It is not at all surprising early Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, reports claim U.S. Treasury approval officers were instructed to always approve payments, even to known fraudulent and terrorist groups.
The outrage from the media-machine (many of whom are funneled taxpayer dollars) and others is very telling. Their fear mongering and labeling of this president a “fascist” for stripping power away from his own branch of government – of which he is well within his constitutional powers to do - is one of the most ironic moments in modern American history. I also find the xenophobic attacks on Elon Musk and the ageist attacks on young DOGE employees to be quite concerning. These panicked, last-ditch attempts by these abusers to claim a shred of credibility with the American people only further shows their culpability. To them, I repeat the same logical fallacy they told Americans as they stripped away our privacy over 20 years ago: if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.
During my time as a state representative, I have been a staunch advocate for government efficiency and accountability. I have introduced numerous bills to optimize government operations, cut government waste, put a stop to improper payments and hold those who defraud taxpayers accountable. My record speaks for itself - I have been beating this drum as loud as I can from the beginning. This conviction runs so deep in me that for the past five years I have signed off all my emails with this quote from President Thomas Jefferson:
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We might hope to see the finances of the Union as clear and intelligible as a merchant's books, so that every member of Congress and every man of any mind in the Union should be able to comprehend them, to investigate abuses, and consequently to control them. |
In 2019, then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro claimed Pennsylvania was losing about $3 billion in Medicaid fraud alone. This was just under 10% of the state’s budget at the time. Since then, I have introduced and co-sponsored bipartisan legislation every session requiring state agencies to analyze their susceptibility to improper payments and create a state-level “Do Not Pay” initiative to stop improper payments before they are made. At the time, Attorney General Shapiro was in full support of these bills. However, as titles and allegiances have changed, it is questionable if this is still the case.
Now government efficiency is finally cool and trendy, it is my hope Gov. Shapiro, House Democrats and Senate Republicans can come together to fix the waste, fraud and abuse in the Commonwealth before it is too late. I genuinely believe Pennsylvania needs a DOGE-level shakeup, but it must be coordinated with the executive branch. Taxpayers have been held under the oppressive thumb of bloated bureaucracy and corruption for far too long and we have had enough.
State Rep. Seth Grove is a Republican from Dover Township, representing the 196th Legislative District. He is the Republican chairman of the House Labor and Industry Committee and has a master’s degree in public financial management from the University of Kentucky.
Representative Seth Grove
196th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
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