With Rising Concerns Over Fraud, Taxpayer Protection Legislation to Halt Improper Payments to Dead People Signed into Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, President Trump signed into law legislation advanced by the Ways and Means Committee to give the U.S. Department of the Treasury permanent access to data that will curb the improper payment of taxpayer dollars made to deceased individuals. The Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act (S. 269) authorizes the Social Security Administration (SSA) to continue sharing its complete death records with Treasury to enhance the effectiveness of the Department's Do Not Pay service. SSA's current authority to share this data expires at the end of 2026. Identical legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 2716) received unanimous bipartisan support by the Ways and Means Committee.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement:

"This cooperation between Treasury and the Social Security Administration is a proven fraud prevention measure that has already saved American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. In its first year of implementation, it stopped over $100 million in improper payments going to dead people. Americans deserve a government that makes every effort to defeat waste, fraud, and abuse within the bureaucracy, and this commonsense policy will ensure an effective tool remains in place to safeguard the taxpayers' hard-earned money."

Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act (S. 269):

• In 2021, the SSA received authority to share its full death data with Treasury's DNP service to curb improper payments made to deceased individuals for a three-year period beginning in December 2023.
• By the end of 2026 when the current authority expires, this data exchange is projected to save $330 million across the federal government.
• This bill permanently authorizes the SSA to share its complete death records with the Treasury Department's Do Not Pay (DNP) service for the purpose of reducing improper payments to deceased individuals.

Read a fact sheet on the bill here.