WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Republicans and some Democrats, passed an anti-fraud package that aims to strengthen safeguards across the federal government. Members said the bills aim to protect taxpayer dollars from going to the wrong hands.
“We have a responsibility to protect taxpayer dollars,” said Rep. Mike Kelly (R- PA).
This week in the House, Republicans and some Democrats advanced legislation they believe will help root out fraud. Republicans highlighted fraud scandals, like the one in Minnesota that gained national attention. Members said scammers there submitted false claims to steal millions in federal child nutrition program funds. They said the Minnesota incident is not an isolated one.
“Every cent that goes to fraud is a corruption tax that all Americans pay,” said Rep. Nick Langworthy (R- NY). “The US Government Accountability Office estimates the federal government loses between 233-billion and 521-billion to fraud every single year. That represents three to seven percent of our total federal obligations.”
The House approved a series of bills to address these issues.
“First, we’re making permanent the successful COVID-era fraud protection tools,” said Rep. Langworthy. “One of the few success stories from COVID was the development of sophisticated fraud and data analytics that helped investigators identify billions of dollars in suspicious spending. Unfortunately, those tools are set to expire. This bill makes those capabilities permanent.
And second:
“We’re requiring agencies to identify vulnerabilities and risks for payments actually made,” said Rep. Langworthy. “This may be the most important reform in the package because it attacks the root problem. This bill allows treasury to flag suspicious payments and return them to the agencies for review before the money goes out the door.”
While the bills received some Democratic support, Democrats aired concerns about the administration’s attempts to claw back federal oversight programs and jobs that aim to stop fraud.
“President Trump pardoned convicted fraudsters, fired 19 inspectors general who collectively uncovered 50 billion dollars in a single year, and he defunded a nonpartisan training program that trains the next generation of federal fraud investigators,” said Rep. James Walkinshaw (D- VA). “You can’t claim to be serious about preventing fraud if you have a task force or not while you’re dismantling the institutions built to catch people who commit fraud.”
