31 States Leave Free Fraud-Fighting Tool on the Shelf. Ernst Demands Answers

WASHINGTON - A free Treasury Department system blocked $175 million in payments to dead people in fiscal year 2026. Thirty-one states still don't use it.

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is calling on the National Governors Association and the State Financial Officers Foundation to push the 31 states that don't use Treasury's Do Not Pay system to sign on or explain what's stopping them by Nov. 27.

"Santa makes a list and checks it twice. States should too," said Sen. Ernst. "Do Not Pay is free, it works, and most states aren't using it. The Vice President's anti-fraud pledge was the right first step. Now governors should back it up by stopping fraud before the money goes out the door, instead of chasing it after it's gone."

Do Not Pay cross-checks payments against federal records, including Social Security death data, and lists of banned contractors and convicted fraudsters. In fiscal year 2025, it helped Treasury prevent, detect, or recover $11.7 billion in improper payments, and in fiscal year 2026, it blocked $175 million in payments to dead people. Congress opened it to every state in 2020, free of charge.

"Treasury has told me that a lack of state engagement is holding the program back," said Dan Lips, senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation. "Governors and state financial officers should follow the lead of states like Alabama, Oregon and Tennessee, which have used Do Not Pay to identify and prevent improper payments."

Read the full letter HERE.

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