# 119-s-4378: Protecting American Taxpayers Act 119-s-4378, Protecting American Taxpayers Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (R-IA); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-07-25). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4378 - As of: 2026-07-25 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-s-4378 - Congress: 119 - Title: Protecting American Taxpayers Act - Status: in_committee - Introduced: 2026-04-22 - Sponsor: Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (R-IA) - Cosponsors: 21 - Policy area: Government Operations and Politics - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-07-25 ## Summary **Stopping improper payments and returning unspent federal funds**. This bill sets new fraud triggers and data‑sharing rules across child care, health care, Medicaid/CHIP, and federal awards to detect and recover improper payments. It rescinds many unobligated pandemic and Afghanistan‑era balances for deficit reduction and expands whistleblower protections and agency incentives to find savings. - Families and child care providers: Requires child care payments to be based on attendance not enrollment, allows timely reimbursement after services, and mandates attendance records be kept for 7 years. - States and low‑income households: Applies improper‑payment laws to TANF, adds a non‑supplantation rule, forces expanded full‑population work and earnings reporting, and requires a plan to reduce improper payments within 10 years. - Taxpayers, contractors, and transparency: Rescinds unobligated COVID and Afghanistan reconstruction balances and directs them to the Treasury general fund for deficit reduction while preserving a 60‑day Presidential national‑security waiver. The bill expands Do Not Pay access to new‑hire and select tax data and Social Security identifiers, strengthens federal award reporting including other transaction agreements, widens whistleblower protections to contractors and grantees, and lets agencies retain up to 10% of identified surplus funds as awards. *By channeling rescinded and recovered funds to the Treasury general fund, the bill is designed to reduce the federal deficit.* ## Cosponsors (21) - Sen. Ricketts, Pete [R-NE] (R-NE), 2026-04-22T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Marshall, Roger [R-KS] (R-KS), 2026-04-22T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] (R-ND), 2026-04-22T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Moody, Ashley [R-FL] (R-FL), 2026-04-22T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Sheehy, Tim [R-MT] (R-MT), 2026-04-22T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Banks, Jim [R-IN] (R-IN), 2026-04-22T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (R-IA), 2026-04-22T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] (R-TX), 2026-04-22T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Moreno, Bernie [R-OH] (R-OH), 2026-04-22T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Husted, Jon [R-OH] (R-OH), 2026-04-22T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. McCormick, David [R-PA] (R-PA), 2026-04-22T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK), 2026-04-22T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Young, Todd [R-IN] (R-IN), 2026-04-28T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Britt, Katie Boyd [R-AL] (R-AL), 2026-05-18T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Schmitt, Eric [R-MO] (R-MO), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA), 2026-07-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Justice, James C. [R-WV] (R-WV), 2026-07-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Lummis, Cynthia M. [R-WY] (R-WY), 2026-07-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Barrasso, John [R-WY] (R-WY), 2026-07-14T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (R-MT), 2026-07-15T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Budd, Ted [R-NC] (R-NC), 2026-07-15T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - New rules to recover improper payments: benefit, high. If enacted, OMB would require agencies to recover improper payments and include improper payment amounts, trends, and corrective actions in the President's budget. Inspectors General must report the amount of improper payments recovered each year. The steps aim to increase recoveries across federal… - More transparency for federal awards: benefit, medium. If enacted, agencies would add Other Transaction Agreement data and payment metadata to USAspending.gov and the FFATA site. Payment details would post within 30 days of certification and agencies must meet stepped deadlines over 1–3 years. Inspectors General and the Government Accountability Office… - New VA veterans fraud officer: benefit, low. If enacted, the VA would create a Veterans Scam and Fraud Evasion Officer to prevent scams, promote the VSAFE hotline and website, give guidance, develop training, and coordinate with other agencies. The office would not add new full-time staff and would terminate on September 30, 2030. - New remittance ban for assistance recipients: cost, high. If enacted, applicants or reapplicants for certain public assistance would have to sign under penalty of perjury that they will not make remittance transfers while receiving benefits. If someone signs and later makes a remittance transfer during the benefit period, they could face a $100,000 civil… - SBA bans aid for fraud-convicted associates: cost, high. If enacted, an associate who is finally convicted of covered loan- or grant-related financial misconduct would be ineligible for most SBA financial assistance. A small business with such an associate would also be ineligible for SBA aid except under limited authority. Existing government contracts… - Rescind unused pandemic funds: cost, high. If enacted, this bill would rescind unobligated balances from listed pandemic-era laws and transfer them to the Treasury general fund to reduce the deficit. The President could waive a rescission for a specific account if done within 60 days after enactment. This would reduce funds available to aff… - Longer enforcement windows for pandemic relief: cost, medium. If enacted, prosecutors and civil enforcers would generally have up to 10 years to bring criminal or civil cases about pandemic-era programs, including Restaurant Revitalization and Shuttered Venue grants. Civil forfeiture and False Claims Act actions would also have extended filing periods with di… - Stricter fraud checks for health programs: mixed, high. If enacted, Medicare, Medicaid/CHIP, and marketplace plans would be flagged when payments or the number of providers in a ZIP/county area spike sharply. Agencies must notify the HHS Inspector General when year-over-year payments or provider counts more than double. The IG must audit programs with 4… - New TANF reporting and safeguards: mixed, medium. If enacted, Part A TANF and related State programs would be subject to federal improper-payment laws. HHS must write regulations within two years and send a 10-year plan to cut improper payments within one year. States would report each person's work-eligibility, monthly hours (including zero), rea… - Pay child care by attendance: mixed, medium. If enacted, child care subsidy payments would be based on recorded attendance, not enrollment, and agencies would not be required to pay before services are given. Payments must be timely reimbursements and providers must keep attendance and service records for 7 years for audits. This could reduce… - Treasury gets more tax and hire data: mixed, medium. If enacted, Treasury would get limited IRS return data for at least three years, regular SSA name/DOB/SSN data, and access to the National Directory of New Hires to run Do Not Pay checks. Treasury could share this information with contractors, Federal and State program agencies, and authorized part… - Move agency salary savings to Treasury: mixed, medium. If enacted, agencies would transfer identified surplus salaries and expenses to the Treasury general fund to reduce the deficit. Agencies could keep up to 10 percent of the transferred amounts to pay cash awards to employees who identified the savings. Agencies must report savings annually and OPM… ## Related bills - 119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 - 119-s-4952: Protecting American Taxpayers Act - 119-s-3752: SAVE America Act - 119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025 - 119-s-128: SAVE Act - 119-s-65: Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2025 ## Sources - [119-s-4378 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4378) ## Related - [119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1071) - [119-s-4952: Protecting American Taxpayers Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4952) - [119-s-3752: SAVE America Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3752) - [119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-186) - [119-s-128: SAVE Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-128) - [119-s-65: Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-65) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4378 (as of 2026-07-25).