The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it stopped nearly $100 million in welfare payments from reaching dead people through new fraud prevention measures.
Since March 2025 the department identified 4,900 payments worth $99 million that were flagged and halted before disbursement. The screening covered 885 million payments totaling about $2.77 trillion.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent credited expanded access to the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File and the Do Not Pay program, which requires identity verification and eligibility checks. “Treasury has delivered on a key promise of President Trump’s mandate to stop improper payments and fraud before money leaves the Treasury,” Bessent said.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 directing the department to conduct such screenings. The administration also formed a task force under Vice President JD Vance to address fraud across federal programs.
