The Treasury Department’s verification system has already intercepted $99 million in improper payments, fulfilling a key Trump-era mandate to combat fraud and waste in federal spending.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it has implemented a new verification system designed to prevent federal payments from being issued to dead people, a move the agency says has already stopped approximately $99 million in improper payments. The system screens roughly 885 million federal payments against expanded death records, auditing nearly $2.7 trillion in payments and returning more than 4,900 transactions linked to deceased payees for further review. 📺 DETAIL: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the safeguard fulfills a key priority of President Donald J. Trump‘s efforts to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse while strengthening the integrity of the federal payment system. The initiative builds on Executive Order 14249, signed by Trump in March 2025, and relies on expanded access to the Social Security Administration’s Full Death Master File to identify potentially ineligible recipients before payments are issued. Treasury first received temporary access to the database through a 2021 pilot program that projected $330 million in net savings between 2024 and 2026, with Congress making that access permanent in February 2026 through the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act. The department said it will continue expanding the verification system across the federal government as part of a broader effort to prevent improper payments before taxpayer funds leave federal accounts. Additional anti-fraud initiatives are being announced in conjunction with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, and officials from the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force and the HHS Office of Inspector General. 💬 KEY QUOTE: “Treasury has delivered on a key promise of President Trump’s mandate to stop improper payments and fraud before money leaves the Treasury,” said Bessent. 🎯 IMPACT: By modernizing the federal payment system, this initiative aims to ensure American taxpayer dollars are used efficiently and lawfully. The program forms part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to reduce waste and fraud in welfare, Medicaid, hospices, and daycares, among other vulnerable areas. 📺 FLASHBACK: In March 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14249, “Protecting America’s Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse,” which directed federal agencies to address improper payments. |
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