Investing.com -- A recent broadcast on Fox News featured Sam Corcos, a DOGE insider and special adviser to the U.S. Treasury Department, who offered a candid assessment of the IRS’s IT operations and budget. Corcos revealed that the IRS processes an amount of data comparable to a mid-sized bank, yet operates with a significantly larger IT staff and budget. According to Corcos, while a typical mid-sized bank might employ 1 to 200 IT personnel with an operations and maintenance budget of about $20 million, the IRS has 8,000 IT workers and a staggering $3.5 billion operations and maintenance budget.
He expressed concern over the fact that 80% of the IRS’s IT budget is allocated to contractors and licenses, which are essential for performing basic tax collection functions. Corcos underscored the urgency of addressing this issue, stating, "We cannot perform the basic functions of tax collection without paying a toll to all these contractors. We really have to figure out how to get out of this hole."
The Treasury’s modernization efforts within IT also command a significant budget of $3.7 billion, yet Corcos suggested that the costs far exceed what one would expect to see in a private company for similar operations. This discrepancy points to inefficiencies and inflated expenses within the department.
When asked by host Laura Ingraham about his most surprising discovery at the Department of Treasury, Corcos pointed to the disconnect between leadership and workers as a significant issue. He noted that questioning expensive contracts often reveals a lack of justification for their existence, suggesting that inertia has led to unnecessary spending. "It doesn’t take a lot, just somebody who cares to solve these problems," Corcos said, indicating that a more critical and caring approach could lead to cost-saving cancellations of unwarranted contracts.
This conversation with Corcos sheds light on the challenges faced by the U.S. Treasury Department in managing its IT operations and budget, and the necessity for a thorough evaluation to enhance efficiency and reduce costs.
Following the interview, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO and DOGE leader Elon Musk praised Corcos and others working on the initiative.
"Many all-star engineers are taking major pay cuts (sometimes to zero) and suffering from harassment, including death threats, to help the country with @DOGE, because they love America," Musk said on X.