Stopping Fraudulent Payments Act
Sponsored By: Senator Ernst, Joni [R-IA]
Introduced
Summary
Would let agency heads pause, condition, or segment federal payments to stop fraud and improper payments. It ties those holds to objective fraud-risk indicators and the Treasury Do Not Pay outputs, requires prompt notice to payees and affected state or local officials, and sets short, limited review windows for resolving disputes.
Show full summary
- People and vendors who receive federal payments would get written notice within 2 days if a disbursement is paused and a chance to supply information or contest the hold. Agencies must issue payment within 30 days if the review clears the payment.
- Agency leaders would gain authority to temporarily delay or split payments when an objective fraud-risk indicator shows elevated risk. Holds must target only the anomalous portion and last the minimum time needed to verify eligibility.
- State and local administrators that distribute federal funds can trigger or be notified of reviews, and federal law enforcement or Inspectors General can get case-by-case exemptions to avoid harming active investigations.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Pausing risky federal payments
If enacted, agency heads would be able to temporarily pause, condition, or split federal payments when objective fraud-risk indicators show elevated risk. Treasury would have to notify certifying officials and issue corrective-action orders within 2 days when Do Not Pay outputs show elevated risk. Agencies would have to notify payees and relevant State or local officials within 2 days and give a way to contest factual errors. Agencies should let routine, historically consistent payment amounts go through while holding only anomalous portions. Payments would have to be issued within 30 days after a pause or within 7 days after a successful payee contest. Treasury and OMB would write implementing rules within 180 days and report to Congress within 18 months and then every year.
Liability protection for officials
If enacted, accountable officers and certifying officials would get expanded relief from personal liability when they act in good faith to follow the new pause rules. This relief would cover losses or certification issues that result from trying to comply with the corrective-action authority.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Ernst, Joni [R-IA]
IA • R
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov