Wyden Applauds House for Passing His Bill on Ending Government Payments to Deceased Americans

Wyden Applauds House for Passing His Bill on Ending Government Payments to Deceased Americans

Washington, D.C. - The U.S. House of Representatives today unanimously passed a bill by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden. D-Ore., to save hard-earned taxpayer money by curbing incorrect payments to individuals who have died.

The Senate passed the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act in October and the legislation now goes to the White House for the president's signature.

"This bipartisan bill fixes our federal government's payment systems so that millions of taxpayer dollars are saved every year," said Wyden, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. "I am committed to ensuring that Americans' hard earned benefits are protected. That's why I'm supporting this bill to ensure Americans' personal data and earned benefits from Social Security are protected."

Joining Wyden in leading the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act were U.S. Senators John Kennedy, R-La., and Gary Peters, D-Mich. U.S. Representative Clay Higgins, R-La., led the U.S. House of Representatives companion bill.

In 2023, the Social Security Administration (SSA) began sharing its list of deceased individuals with the Treasury Department to reduce improper payments to these individuals. This data exchange, which was established by Congress on a three-year pilot program, let the federal government generate substantial savings. In its first five months, the Treasury Department announced it recovered $31 million in fraud and improper payments. The department also projected it would reduce more than $215 million in improper payments by 2027.

Wyden's bill made this data-sharing agreement permanent to prevent agencies from making improper payments to deceased people.

Wyden also authored a provision in the bill to prohibit the SSA from listing any individual in its records as 'deceased' unless it has clear and convincing evidence that the individual is in fact deceased. This provision was developed in response to news reports that the SSA was falsely declaring certain immigrants as 'deceased' to pressure legal U.S. residents to leave the country. Following these concerning reports, Wyden demanded the SSA stop this illegal, unconstitutional action and launch a full investigation. In June, the SSA informed Wyden that it stopped this practice. Wyden's provision in this bill would ensure the SSA can no longer weaponize its data to take away Americans' earned benefits or inflict irreparable harm on people who are alive.

Text of the bill is here.