Labor Dept. to return large sum to taxpayers, collaborating with DOGE

Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced this week that her office will return more than $1 billion in unused COVID-era funds to US taxpayers.

The news comes amid a hundred actions by the Trump administration for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.

In a press release, the DOL said that $1.4 billion in unspent COVID-19 funds will be "returned to taxpayers through the US Department of the Treasury's General Fund" and added that "steps" are being "taken" to recover the remaining $2.9 billion.

The billions of dollars were intended for temporary unemployment insurance during the pandemic, according to the document.

However, the release reveals several states continued to spend millions of dollars "despite not meeting the necessary requirements," as found in a 2023 audit by the department's Office of Inspector General.

According to the text, the funding originated in the Coronavirus Assistance, Relief, and Economic Security Act of March 2020 and the program was intended to provide extended unemployment insurance for Americans who were unable to work during the pandemic. The program was closed in 2021

However, the 2023 audit evidenced that four states were able to access funding "despite not meeting program requirements," exceeding $100 million in expenditures.

"The money still available for pandemic-era unemployment funds is a clear misuse of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars," Chavez-DeRemer wrote on her social media.

The announcement comes after DeRemer said in her first memo to the department after taking office last month that she plans to comply with Trump's executive orders and work with DOGE to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse.