Staff Reports
The Treasury’s Do Not Pay system just took a small but welcome step toward stopping wasteful federal checks from going out the door. Treasury says its new pre‑payment verification screened roughly $3.7 trillion in federal payments, returned about 13,500 payments worth $175 million that otherwise would have gone to dead people, and now covers roughly 99% of federal programs. That sounds good — until you learn the department still can’t touch much of the data it needs because of legal limits and congressional foot‑dragging.
Pre‑payment screening is the right idea — and it works
Moving from “pay and chase” to “stop before you pay” should be common sense. Secretary Scott Bessent says Do Not Pay is using better data and stronger tech to protect taxpayer dollars. Stopping $175 million headed to deceased payees before money left the Treasury is real money saved, not the usual endless audit theater. With the Government Accountability Office estimating about $186 billion in improper payments last year, any tool that prevents waste is worth backing.
But this win is modest — and predictable
Here’s the reality: preventing payments to deceased people is the low‑hanging fruit. The bigger problems come from identity fraud, fake vendors, and improperly claimed benefits — the stuff you stop if you can match Social Security numbers, employer IDs, new‑hire records, and IRS tax data quickly and lawfully. The Center Square reported an unnamed Treasury official saying statutory limits tied to the Social Security Act let Treasury verify SSNs for only a narrow set of programs — allegedly 11 accounting‑code programs — and that Treasury still can’t check employer identification numbers against IRS records. That “11 programs” number should be confirmed on the record, but the underlying point stands: the system is hamstrung by law.
Congress had a chance to fix it — and punted
Representative James Comer’s H.R. 8463 originally would have given Treasury access to new‑hire records, certain IRS information, and a Social Security name/SSN verification service. The Oversight Committee trimmed that bill and the House floor text ultimately left out the Social Security verification provision after Ways and Means objected. Senator Joni Ernst’s Senate companion carries broader authorities but has stalled on the calendar. So lawmakers talked a good game about protecting taxpayer dollars, and then stripped out the tools that would actually do it. Democrats and Republicans both joined the privacy chorus, but privacy and taxpayer protection are not mutually exclusive — unless you prefer drama over results.
Give Treasury the tools — with ironclad safeguards
Republicans should make this a wins‑and‑wins fight: demand Do Not Pay get the specific data access it needs, but tie that access to strict penalties, clear audit trails, and narrow, purpose‑limited use. That’s what Comer claimed to be doing in committee. We should stop pretending that blocking basic verification is protecting privacy when it mostly protects fraud. If Congress wants to defend taxpayer money, it can pass targeted reforms that allow Numident checks, National Directory of New Hires matches, and limited IRS identity confirmations — and Congress can write the guardrails so the data isn’t turned into a fishing expedition.
Final word
The Do Not Pay expansion is a welcome step, but it’s not the finish line. Treasury’s new pre‑payment catches show the method works. Now Congress needs to stop trimming the tool kit and either empower Treasury with the limited authorities it needs or explain to taxpayers why lawmakers prefer to paper over $186 billion in improper payments instead of stopping fraud before the check is cut. If Republicans want a real victory for taxpayers, they should stop applauding the sound of progress and start demanding the power to secure it.
