Brenda Mendoza isn’t a fan of President Donald Trump or former President Joe Biden and believes both political parties are “full of it.”

But when it comes to Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, Mendoza — a Maryland resident and retired federal financial manager — says the organization is doing “what federal government employees should be doing anyway.”

Mendoza says she’s a firsthand witness to government fraud, waste and abuse. While congressional Republicans and Trump supporters have applauded DOGE’s work under the leadership of billionaire tech executive Elon Musk, Democrats have criticized DOGE for making what they describe as harmful cuts to federal workers and contracts.

Fraud, waste and/or abuse occurred at every government department where she was employed, Mendoza said, including Defense, Homeland Security, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General, and the Office of Director of National Intelligence. Her roles included budget analyst, financial analyst and financial manager.

Mendoza was recognized in 2024 by the nonprofit organization Executive Women in Government, founded in 1973, as a “distinguished leader with a career centered on public service,” according to a post on the organization’s Instagram.

Her job was to serve as a watchdog, ensuring taxpayer dollars were spent correctly. If an improper payment was made, the funds could be recouped — but only “if you can catch it.”

“There’s an overwhelming volume of transactions,” she said. “And sometimes people are not either able to catch these things ... and sometimes there is collusion.”

Cheating on travel vouchers

The most “shocking” spending practice Mendoza said she observed during her career was federal employees cheating on travel vouchers.

“You go on a trip and you claim things that are not legitimate. And you may take a girlfriend or boyfriend along with you to certain things and on the government dime or whatever,” she said. “Maybe some people are OK with that, but fraudulent travel claims are illegal.”

Improper expenditures happened on a daily basis, she said. The people making wrongful claims included people working at the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General, she said.

“One would think that that agency had more integrity embedded within it than any other office,” Mendoza said.

The Justice Department and OIG’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

She said in the places she’s worked, “it was common knowledge that people would lie, cheat and steal if they believed they could get away with it.”

Cheating on travel vouchers might sound like “small fry,” Mendoza said. “But when you think of the entire federal government and people that travel routinely, that adds up, right?”

Spending frenzy

Most of the agencies where Mendoza worked would go on a “spending frenzy” during the last three months of the fiscal year instead of following their funding obligation plan, she said. Essentially, the agencies would obligate funds that were not considered a legitimate need within the specified obligation period, which is a “violation of appropriations law,” she said.

“Every year, it was the same thing over and over again, ad nauseam,” she said.

“It’s as if you have a child that knows their homework is due and they have three months to complete a project. Well, instead of pacing themselves and completing that project, they just wait until the last minute.”

If she expressed concerns about an end-of-year spending “free for all,” she would receive pushback.

“When you’re a federal employee, especially at my level, it’s difficult to fire you,” she said. “So, what happens is, it becomes uncomfortable to work in your job.”

Fired workers

DOGE has many opponents, including people who recently lost their jobs.

Trump has said the terminations will cut costs and boost efficiency, while Maryland leaders have warned the cuts will have disastrous consequences for the state’s economy and residents.

Ottis Johnson, Jr., a former federal government police officer who now serves as a national vice president in the American Federation of Government Employees, recently talked to The Baltimore Sun before the president’s address to Congress. He went to the address as a guest of Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, a Prince George’s County Democrat.

He said Trump’s actions have been unfair to people like him, a veteran who decided to enter public service in multiple ways.

“You’re telling them that they’re not worthy of being able to do the job that they’re doing now? That they’re not qualified? And they protect the very heavens that you sleep under every night. It’s not fair,” said Johnson, an Owings Mills resident.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a combat veteran, has been criticizing the Trump administration for its treatment of veterans among DOGE cuts.

“First they said that veterans were ‘not fit to have a job.’ Now, they’re cutting tens of thousands of jobs that support veterans’ health care,” he said in a statement on X. “America’s veterans deserve better. The White House should be standing with them, not treating them as if they’re expendable.”

Elon Musk

Some have criticized Elon Musk for leading the DOGE initiative, given his lack of government experience.

But Mendoza said many contractors run tech businesses like Musk and work for the federal government. For example, agencies might hire a contractor to design a modernized system for financial management.

“So the code for these systems and all of the technology that goes with them are being developed by people like Elon Musk, so they know how to get into the back doors of the systems that they design,” she said.

She added, “If people were really concerned about people like Elon Musk, then they would get a rude awakening when they realize that not only are people like Elon Musk designing the systems that we use for the government that we contract for, but they’re also running the agencies that supply the contract staff that controls a lot of our financial management operations.”

Is it possible to cut $1 trillion?

Musk and DOGE aim to cut $1 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year, which is up in September.

The federal government’s magnitude of fraud, waste and abuse “would surprise the average American citizen,” Mendoza said.

It’s “not inconceivable” there could be $1 trillion or more of waste, fraud and abuse, considering the “magnitude of funds that the federal government controls,” Mendoza said.

She noted that a lot of government fraud, waste and abuse is already known through inspector general’s reports that are publicly available.

“If American citizens believe that some of this stuff is being made up, then they can go to the IG reports, and they can read it for themselves, and they will be shocked at some of the things.”

The question for Mendoza isn’t so much about “good” and “bad” spending but whether funding is being spent on its allocated purpose.

“We should have been doing that all along, especially people that were in my profession,” she said. “We should be the gatekeepers.”

Sam Janesch contributed to this report.

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