Proposal urges audits of all 50 states to curb fraud, waste and abuse

An unidentified speaker told an oversight committee that "fraud, waste, and abuse is not a partisan issue" and urged a nationwide audit of state government spending to ensure taxpayer dollars are used as intended.

The speaker, who identified themselves as a "progressive Democrat," cited Franklin D. Roosevelt and the 1932 New Deal as precedent for rooting out governmental inefficiencies. They said they had asked Californians to submit examples of waste and misconduct and had partnered with the All In Podcast to publicize the effort.

"Let's have an audit of all 50 states to make sure that government money is being spent wisely," the speaker said, directly challenging colleagues on the Republican side to support the proposal and framing the work as nonpartisan oversight.

The speaker emphasized that while they favor higher contributions from the ultra-wealthy to fund health care, child care and education, those funds must not be lost to fraud or inefficiency. "Every American has a stake in making sure that they have a receipt for where their tax dollars are going," they said.

The remarks amount to a public call for broad, bipartisan audits and for the committee to coordinate across states. The transcript records no response from other members or any formal motion to initiate such audits during this session.

The speaker closed by saying they would pursue the effort in California and urged the committee to adopt similar oversight across all states.