Comer Commends Efforts to Hold Pandemic UI Fraudsters Accountable

WASHINGTON-House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today praised the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General for its efforts to combat pandemic unemployment insurance (UI) fraud. These efforts have led to over 2,000 individuals being charged with crimes. Chairman Comer also called for reforms to prevent future theft of taxpayer dollars.

"I applaud the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General's efforts to hold fraudsters accountable for stealing billions from pandemic unemployment relief programs. Investigating pandemic-era UI fraud has been a top priority for the House Oversight Committee, and we will continue to support the Inspector General and federal law enforcement's efforts to hold accountable those who are defrauding the American people.

"Last year, we released a report detailing our investigation's findings and provided recommendations to protect UI programs from waste, fraud, and abuse. Congress must act swiftly to extend the statute of limitations for unemployment insurance fraud to ensure investigators can continue recovering taxpayer dollars and bringing perpetrators to justice. Reforms also need to be made to UI programs to proactively prevent such rampant waste, fraud, and abuse. These reforms include verifying claimant eligibility through comprehensive database cross-checking, modernizing IT systems to improve UI claims processing, and sharing claimant data and wage records with OIG to ensure independent oversight of the programs. We look forward to working with the incoming Trump Administration and other congressional committees to make the federal government more effective in safeguarding taxpayer dollars."

Background: During the 118th Congress, the House Oversight Committee investigated the billions of taxpayer dollars lost to waste, fraud, and abuse in pandemic unemployment relief programs. The Committee issued a report, "Widespread Failures and Fraud in Pandemic Unemployment Relief Programs," which details information, documents, and communications obtained by the Committee showing how states across the country, including California, New York, and Pennsylvania, processed and administered pandemic UI claims with minimal oversight, resulting in billions of taxpayer dollars lost to improper and fraudulent payments that will likely never be recovered.

In addition, the report includes a list of recommendations to prevent improper payments and fraud in unemployment insurance programs in the future. To protect taxpayers, below are some recommendations from the report:

• All future temporary UI benefits programs must require claimants to provide proof of prior work before claims will be reviewed for eligibility. Unemployment insurance should always be tied to work.
• All future temporary UI benefits programs must require state workforce agencies to cross-check claimant PII against all available databases, such as federal prisoner databases, as recommended by OIG and law enforcement, prior to approving benefits.
• States and state workforce agencies should prioritize modernizing IT systems to process UI claims, while also considering partnering with employers in the state to fund the necessary investment for these initiatives.
• Individuals with convictions for identity theft, mail and wire fraud, and related criminal convictions should not be hired to process government benefits. If necessary, state laws should be amended to prevent the hiring of these individuals to combat improper payments and fraud.
• Congress should consider extending the statute of limitations for the fraud programs associated with the pandemic UI programs, which are due to expire in March 2025, so that criminals that defrauded taxpayers may be brought to justice.