Safeguarding Taxpayer Dollars in National Emergencies

Every year, the federal government loses hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to fraudulent and improper payments. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), those losses total between $233 billion and $521 billion annually. Far too often, these hard-earned dollars are gone for good, with no chance to be recovered.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed just how vulnerable federal emergency programs are to waste, fraud, and abuse. As the government rushed to distribute an unprecedented influx of federal spending, the need for rapid deployment, and limited safeguards strained oversight systems and left billions of taxpayer dollars vulnerable to fraud. Once those payments were made, much of the money was impossible to recover. Americans expect the government to respond quickly during times of crisis, but they also expect taxpayer dollars to be protected.

While Congress may never know how much money fraudsters ripped off from the American people, the estimated hundreds of billions of dollars dispersed in fraudulent payments is unacceptable. To combat this preventable problem, House Republicans are bringing forward H.R. 8312 today, which will establish permanent preventative measures that provide greater oversight of emergency funds and can flag suspicious payments before they are lost for good.

Rep. Pete Sessions’ legislation, H.R. 8312, the Fraud Prevention and Accountability Act, expands U.S. Treasury Fiscal Service’s financial and program integrity services and establishes a permanent Inspector General for Fraud, Accountability, and Recovery to provide sustained oversight during future national emergencies and maintain the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee’s (PRAC) anti-fraud data analytics tools.

By prioritizing fraud prevention, House Republicans are working to ensure that no more taxpayer dollars are exploited by fraudsters during a time of crisis.

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Preventing Fraud Through Commonsense Reforms

Fraudsters are stealing billions of taxpayer dollars from federal programs every year. For FY 2025 alone, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates $186 billion of taxpayer dollars were improperly paid through fraudulent actions, and the rate only continues to rise.  

In states like Democrat-run Minnesota, weak oversight of state-administered federal programs has allowed fraudsters to steal billions of taxpayer dollars intended to help Americans in need. In Minnesota alone, social services programs have been linked to an estimated $9 billion in fraudulent payments. Despite the availability of tools and resources to prevent improper payments, there is currently no government-wide requirement for federal agencies and state-administered programs to conduct anti-fraud verification before taxpayer dollars are distributed.

Today, House Republicans are advancing legislation to ensure government agencies address fraud risks before taxpayer dollars go out the door. The bill allows agencies to pause, segment, or cancel payments flagged as potentially fraudulent before they are distributed, providing time for corrective action and helping stop fraud before taxpayer dollars are lost.

Chairman James Comer’s measure, H.R. 8464, the Stopping Fraudulent Payments Act, strengthens the federal payment system by building on oversight of state-administered programs, preventing federal agencies from making payments when an agency has deemed a program to be at an elevated risk for fraud or improper payments, and gives the U.S. Treasury new authority to return payment requests to agencies if they appear to be at risk for fraud.

House Republicans are working tirelessly to ensure agencies shift their focus from fraud recovery to fraud prevention in order to responsibly handle taxpayer dollars.