WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Treasury Department has flagged more than 4,900 federal payments totaling about $99 million for review after a new verification system identified deceased people as the listed recipients before the funds were disbursed.
Treasury and its Bureau of the Fiscal Service reported screening more than 885 million payments worth approximately $2.77 trillion through the government-wide process.
The flagged payments were returned to their originating federal agencies for review. Treasury did not characterize all of them as fraudulent or improper.
The verification system fulfills part of a March 2025 executive order directing the department to strengthen controls against fraud, waste and improper federal payments before money leaves the Treasury.
“Treasury has delivered on a key promise of President Trump’s mandate to stop improper payments and fraud before money leaves the Treasury,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated.
The system draws on the Social Security Administration’s Full Death Master File, which gives Treasury more comprehensive data for identifying payments associated with deceased recipients.
Congress initially granted Treasury temporary access to the database through a three-year pilot program under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.
During the pilot’s first year, Treasury projected approximately $330 million in net benefits from 2024 through 2026 through reductions in improper payments.
President Donald Trump signed the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act in February 2026 after its passage by Congress, giving Treasury permanent access to the full database.
The expanded screening is part of Treasury’s Do Not Pay program and other payment-verification measures intended to identify questionable transactions before federal funds are released.
Treasury plans to continue adding verification capabilities required under the executive order across the federal payment system.
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