DOGE recovers $1.9 billion that was ’misplaced during the Biden administration’

The announcement regarding the recovery of these funds came just hours after Lee Zeldin disclosed that the EPA was working to recover $20 billion.

Published by

Luis Francisco Orozco

February 15, 2025

2 minutes read

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The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced Friday it had found $1.9 billion dollars that former President Joe Biden's administration had lost during his time in office. The agency, led by X owner Elon Musk, explained on social media that the money belonged to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

$1.9 billion of HUD money was just recovered after being misplaced during the Biden administration due to a broken process. These funds were earmarked for the administration of financial services, but were no longer needed. @SecretaryTurner and @DOGE worked together to fix the… pic.twitter.com/NDZPr8sjFC
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 14, 2025

"$1.9 billion of HUD money was just recovered after being misplaced during the Biden administration due to a broken process. These funds were earmarked for the administration of financial services, but were no longer needed," the agency posted on its X account.

The announcement regarding the recovery of these funds came just hours after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, Lee Zeldin, revealed in a video posted on his X account that his agency was working to recover $20 billion in climate funds that the Biden administration had approved just months before the end of his term. The EPA administrator also claimed that the past Democratic administration was grossly irresponsible in wasting taxpayer money.

The funds are available to the Treasury

Following the DOGE revelation, HUD Secretary Scott Turner explained in a video posted on his social media account that his agency is working alongside Musk to solve the issue as soon as possible and provide answers to the American people. Turner added that the $1.9 billion is already available for the Treasury Department to use.

Finally, the HUD secretary stated in his video that President Donald Trump’s administration will be detailed and meticulous with every dollar spent on serving America's urban, rural and tribal communities.

More than 7,000 layoffs in two days

The Trump administration laid off more than 7,000 federal employees between Thursday and Friday as part of its plan to make cuts to streamline the civil service and substantially reduce the country's bureaucracy, which is why the Republican leader created the Department of Government Efficiency on the first day of his second term at the White House as president.

The agencies most affected were the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), with more than 3,000 layoffs, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), with more than 1,000 employees. At the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 405 employees were laid off, including more than 200 workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and 130 at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Other agencies that also experienced massive layoffs were the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with 1,300 and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with 300. In addition, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) suffered an unspecified number of layoffs over these past two days.

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