Lafayette Reporter

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana addressed the Senate, emphasizing the significant amount of federal funds misallocated to deceased individuals. During his speech, he urged fellow lawmakers to support the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased Americans Act, a legislative measure aimed at curbing such financial mismanagement.

Kennedy highlighted that in fiscal year 2023 alone, $1.3 billion was erroneously distributed to deceased persons. He remarked, “I want to talk about dead people and the fact that they're getting money from the federal government. In fiscal year 2023 alone—this is just one year—our government sent $1.3 billion—not $1.3 million—we sent $1.3 billion in checks to dead people.”

The senator criticized this oversight as fraudulent and easily preventable, stating, “We need to go pass this bill. I mean, this makes no sense whatsoever... You don't have to be Euclid to figure out that this is just fraud. It's abuse. It's low-hanging fruit, and it's so easily solved."

He proposed a straightforward solution: making it mandatory for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to share its Death Master File with the Department of Treasury and other relevant federal entities permanently rather than on a temporary basis. "All we have to do is direct the Social Security Administration on a permanent basis—not a three-year trial basis, on a permanent basis—to start sharing the list of dead people with the Department of Treasury and everybody else in the federal government who wants it," Kennedy explained.

This proposal builds upon previous legislation co-sponsored by Kennedy and Senator Tom Carper—the Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act—which became law in December 2020. The act currently mandates a three-year data-sharing period between SSA's Death Master File and Treasury’s Do Not Pay system from December 27, 2023, through December 27, 2026.

According to data from the Office of Management and Budget, improper payments have been an ongoing issue for years; between 2004 and 2022, approximately $2.9 trillion was spent improperly by various government agencies.

In past efforts against such inefficiencies, Kennedy authored an op-ed for CNBC in 2021 addressing these erroneous payments and previously questioned U.S. Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro on similar matters in 2019.