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First on FOX: The Labor Department announced Tuesday that it determined that it was deemed wasteful through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts by rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)-related grants from the U.S. Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
The department said Doge has ended all Unemployment Insurance (UI) ARPA grants and has ended its total savings of around $400 million.
Some of the cuts from the $2 trillion law signed into law in 2021 by then-President Joe Biden include creating an “office for unemployed advocates” and funding “Equitable Access Director.”
Other cuts included “Performing Business Process Analysis for Stocks,” development of a “Equity Analysis Dashboard,” research into “Unemployment System Equity,” implementation of a “DEIA Evaluation,” and financing initiatives for “Equity Monitor Staff.”
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The Labor Department says it has cut $400 million in DEI-related spending since its Biden era. (Getty)
“The US unemployment benefits system is facing an infrastructure crisis filled with waste, fraud and abuse,” Labor Department spokesman Courtney Parela told Fox News Digital. “The Biden administration was given a historic opportunity by Congress to fix it, but instead waste it on a bureaucratic, wasted project focused on equitable access, rather than moving forward with access for all Americans in need.”
Parera added that he will continue to work with state workforce agencies across the country, focusing on how to improve UI systems and reduce fraud that has become popular in recent years, according to several news reports.
Earlier this year, Doge announced it had discovered tens of thousands of unemployment claims for presumably old and young claimants approved since 2020.
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Elon Musk is looking at President Donald Trump as he meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. (AP/Evan Vucci)
“This is another incredible discovery by the Doge team, finding nearly $400 million in fraudulent unemployment payments,” Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Deremer told Fox Business in April. “The Labor Bureau is working to recover stolen taxes for Americans. We will continue to work to catch these burglars and eradicate terrible fraud. This is where the accountability lies.”
A Labor Bureau announcement on Tuesday revealed that after Fox News Digital first reported in April, the department revealed that $1.4 billion of undistributed Covid funds will be “returned to taxpayers through the U.S. Treasury Department’s General Fund,” adding that “action” was “taken to recover the remaining $2.9 billion.”
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Former Congressman Lori Chavez Deremar will be seen at a confirmation hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in Washington, D.C. on February 19, 2025.
According to the Department Leaderboard of the Doge website, the top five ranked departments that made the latest Labor Bureau, the Doge-related cuts, on May 11, Doge said it saved $1,055.90 to each US taxpayer.
Eric Revell from Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Andrew Mark Miller is a Fox News reporter. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email him with tips to Andrewmark.miller@fox.com.
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