A former U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program director, Kirk Perry, pleaded guilty to participating in a seven-year kickback scheme involving approximately $400,000 by billing the government for fictitious work. Separately, a former senior budget analyst at the U.S. State Department admitted to embezzling more than $650,000 over two years by writing 60 checks to herself from a government checkbook account. These cases are part of ongoing investigations and prosecutions targeting fraud, waste, and abuse within the federal government. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, uncovered widespread misuse of federal funds allocated for COVID-19 relief at the Department of Education. DOGE revealed that officials used these funds to rent luxury venues, including Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and entire stadiums, for large parties. The absence of a Treasury requirement to upload receipts for expenditures facilitated this misuse. Once a receipt upload mandate was implemented, the questionable spending ceased. Elon Musk publicly stated that U.S. government officials were effectively "partying on taxpayer money," highlighting the scale of the fraud uncovered by DOGE.