(Is it just me or does this just seem like something the government should have had a firm grip on WAY before now? ... WTF?)
President Donald Trump signed Sen. John Kennedy's (R-La.) Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act into law this week, permanently closing a loophole that allowed taxpayer dollars to be sent to people who had already died.
Yes, that was happening.
Sen. Kennedy has pressed the issue for years. His 2020 bipartisan reform temporarily required the Social Security Administration to share its Death Master File with the Treasury Department to prevent improper payments. That three-year safeguard was projected to save at least $330 million between 2024 and 2026. The new law makes that data-sharing permanent and strengthens the Treasury’s Do Not Pay system, allowing agencies to cross-check death records before sending money out the door.
Sen. Kennedy put it plainly:
“Using dead Americans to rip off taxpayers is as low as it gets. Many Americans have seen these scams play out across the country and are tired of watching these fraudsters game the system—so am I. That’s why I wrote this common-sense bill to end this outrageous abuse permanently, and I’m grateful President Trump signed it into law so we can ensure taxpayer dollars go to living Americans who actually need our help.”
Press Release:
https://www.kennedy.senate.gov/public/press-releases?id=9669A1CA-F1E9-47C2-A3D4-DF60152EB97D
The problem, as supporters describe it, was straightforward: The government had the data, but it just wasn’t permanently integrated into its payment guardrails.
The Senate unanimously cleared the bill in September 2025, and the House followed in January 2026. That kind of vote total doesn’t happen by accident.
Sen. Kennedy posted this image from the bill signing:
It’s not sweeping reform. It won’t fix the entire government. But it does something basic that should have been standard practice all along, making sure taxpayer dollars go to eligible, living Americans.
https://redstate.com/ben-smith/2026/02/12/trump-signs-kennedy-bill-ending-government-payments-to-deceased-americans-n2199065
When my dad died in the middle of the month , S.S. made us sent that month's payment back.
ReplyDeleteThat's the shittiest thing I've heard of in a while. Sorry that happened. Somebody should have lost their job over that ... one damn paycheck and they mail 'em out to dead Democrats and illegals all day long.
DeleteWhat's truly disgusting is they had to write, pass and sign a bill to achieve this. It's as if the entire Federal system is created and designed to facilitate theft and fraud.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. When they write bills like this it just blows my mind, or it used to. Now, like you said, the government appears to be a program just to find ways to screw the taxpayers.
DeleteThe basic checks and balances used by any mid-level corporation in the USA - required to be used, in fact - would eliminate 90% of the waste and fraud in the federal govt. Every case of fraud I've seen, all the stuff by DOGE, stuff like what you highlighted here, I've thought the same thing - how the hell was that not caught and corrected immediately. The simple fact is what Dan said, they set this up to facilitate fraud and theft. There can be no other answer. The system does what it was designed to do.
ReplyDelete"The basic checks and balances used by any mid-level corporation in the USA ..." Exactly. I think that is one of the reasons Trump has done as well as he has, with all the obstacles, is because at his heart he is a businessman. Our government, while being the best system in the world, is set up with too much trust in humans, who, with a few exceptions, cannot resist the desire to enrich themselves.
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