Tyler Hassen, a former official at the U.S. Department of the Interior, is auditing federal contracts to reduce government waste. Working with Secretary Doug Burgum, Hassen aims to curb a national debt that has surged to $40 trillion.
The climb from $8 trillion to $40 trillion since 2005
The current fiscal landscape is defined by a staggering acceleration of borrowing. According to the report, Tyler Hassen noted that the U.S. national debt was approximately $8 trillion when he graduated college in 2005, meaning the total has quadrupled in less than two decades. Hassen warns that without a fundamental shift in spending, the national debt could potentially balloon to $100 trillion in the near future.
This trend reflects a broader systemic issue where federal agencies often operate under what Hassen descibes as a "Waterfall model" of poor economic performance. By treating the budget as an infinite resource, the government has allowed bureaucratic processes to hinder actual performance, creating a cycle of spending that Hassen believes can only be broken through aggressive internal auditing and a shift in institutional mindset.
From Mauritania's groundwater to South Pacific wildlife
The specifics of federal waste often hide in plain sight within budget line items. As the report details, Tyler Hassen identified a $4.2 million fee dedicated to assessing groundwater in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a cost he questioned during a review with Secretary Doug Burgum. Other examples of superfluous spending highlighted by Hassen include a $12 million allocation for wildlife studies in the South Pacific and $3 million spent on monitoring fishing lanes.
Hassen's primary tool for identifying these costs is a single, pointed question: "Is this mission critical?" By forcing agency officials to justify every dollar, Hassen aims to separate essential government functions from "outlandish" contract amounts that serve little purpose in the broader national interest.
Excel Cloud and the 'mission critical' filter with Doug Burgum
The process of auditing the Department of the Interior is a hands-on, data-driven operation. Tyler Hassen and Secretary Doug Burgum have utilized Excel Cloud spreadsheets to highlight anomalies and overpriced contracts in real-time.. This technical approach allows the leadership to pinpoint exactly where funds are being diverted away from core agency goals.
Beyond the software,Hassen employs a stratgy of "uncomfortable conversations." He frequently uses Microsoft Teams to call staff members and challenge the necessity of specific contracts. While Hassen describes his tone as collegial, the intent is to dismantle the "safe environment" that typically allows large business deals to be signed without rigorous scrutiny.
Can a culture shift stop the $100 trillion trajectory?
While Tyler Hassen has successfully halted several extraneous spending orders, it remains unclear if these tactics can be scaled across the entire federal government. The report focuses on the Department of the Interior, but the $40 trillion debt is a product of every federal agency's spending habits. Whether other secretaries will adopt Doug Burgum's willingness to scrutinize spreadsheets remains an open question.
Furthermore, the source does not specify the exact criteria used to determine what qualifies as "mission critical," leaving room for subjective interpretation by whoever holds the auditing power. Without a standardized definition of essential spending, there is a risk that necessary but unpopular programs could be cut alongside the waste.
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