Washington (February 11, 2026) – President Donald Trump signed Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-La.) Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, which will save hard-earned taxpayer money by curbing erroneous payments to individuals who have passed away, into law.
“Using dead Americans to rip off taxpayers is as low as it gets. Many Americans have seen these scams play out across the country and are tired of watching these fraudsters game the system—so am I. That’s why I wrote this common-sense bill to end this outrageous abuse permanently, and I’m grateful President Trump signed it into law so we can ensure taxpayer dollars go to living Americans who actually need our help,” said Kennedy.
In 2020, Kennedy passed a bipartisan law, the Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, that put in place key provisions to prevent erroneous government payments to deceased individuals for 3 years. Kennedy’s reform is expected to save at least $330 million from 2024 to 2026.
Kennedy introduced another bill, the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, to make this temporary fix permanent. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the new Kennedy bill in September 2025, and the U.S. House of Representatives followed suit in January 2026. It is expected to prevent billions of taxpayer dollars from being erroneously paid to deceased people.
Jonathan McKernan, Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, strongly supports Kennedy’s common-sense legislation.
“Treasury is firmly committed to advancing data-driven strategies that strengthen payment integrity and safeguard taxpayer dollars. Senator Kennedy’s legislation is a major step forward in achieving that goal. We greatly appreciate his leadership in our shared goal to prevent improper payments,” said McKernan.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) also support the bill.
“Nothing is more wasteful than the federal government sending money to deceased people, and the American taxpayer will no longer foot the bill for the federal government’s mistakes. Republicans have prioritized eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, and this legislation builds upon the important reforms we delivered through the Working Families Tax Cuts,” said Johnson.
“It’s pretty simple: the government shouldn’t be sending taxpayer dollars to people who have passed away. Thanks to Sen. Kennedy’s Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, the Treasury will put an end to this egregious use of federal dollars. This is another way Republicans are delivering on our promise to cut waste, fraud, and abuse in Washington. I’m thankful to my good friend from Louisiana for his leadership on this issue and am happy to see this critical legislation signed into law by President Trump,” said Scalise.
Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) co-led the Senate bill with Kennedy.
“This vital bill will help save millions of taxpayer dollars by ensuring the Social Security Administration will be able to permanently share important data with the Treasury Department’s Do Not Pay system, preventing wrongful payments to deceased individuals. I’m proud to support this bipartisan legislation to help safeguard taxpayer dollars,” said Peters.
“Today is the final lap of getting this bill across the finish line so that the personal data and Social Security benefits of millions of Americans are protected. I am pleased to see the signing of our bipartisan bill into law, fixing our federal government’s payment systems to ensure that millions of taxpayer dollars are saved every year. As Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, I am committed to safeguarding the hard-earned benefits of Americans,” said Wyden.
Sens. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.) all cosponsored the Senate bill.
“As stewards of our fellow taxpayers’ dollars, we owe it to them to be sure their hard-earned money is well spent and NOT WASTED. The Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, which permanently codifies coordination between the Department of Treasury and Social Security Administration to eliminate payments to dead people, has now been signed into law by President Trump! This is a step in the right direction for ending waste, fraud, and abuse running rampant in Washington,” said Moody.
“Fraudsters gave eternal life to thousands of Americans who died long ago. With President Trump signing the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act into law today, we’re finally stopping fraud dead in its tracks that RIPs off the taxpayers. I’m proud to support this commonsense bill to protect our hard-earned tax dollars, enact stronger safeguards, and restore accountability,” said Ernst.
“Our government has a responsibility to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. I am glad that this bipartisan bill to update existing safeguards and better prevent unintentional payments to deceased people has been signed into law,” said Hassan.
“I’m thrilled to see this bipartisan, commonsense bill become law. As working families struggle to afford the cost of living, those of us elected to represent them should be doing everything in our power to save taxpayer dollars and protect government resources from fraud and abuse. I will continue working to improve efficiency and ensure that our government is working for all Americans,” said Warner.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) led the U.S. House companion bill to the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, with Reps. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) as cosponsors.
“With President Trump signing the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act into law, this administration and Republicans in Congress are taking concrete steps to stop more than $300 million from being lost to waste, abuse, and fraud through improper payments to deceased Americans. This bipartisan reform strengthens accountability across the federal government and makes Washington a more responsible steward of taxpayer dollars by giving the U.S. Treasury real tools to stop fraudulent payments before they happen. I was pleased to cosponsor this legislation in the House, and I applaud Senator Kennedy and Congressman Higgins for their leadership, and thank President Trump for making this commonsense reform permanent,” said Meuser.
“It is unacceptable that hard-earned tax dollars are being sent to dead people and fraudsters. These improper payments are a gross waste of our tax dollars and must be reined in. This legislation will ensure the integrity of our tax dollars and will prevent wrongful payments to those who are deceased, saving Americans billions of dollars. I appreciate Senator Kennedy’s leadership on this bill and thank President Trump for signing it into law,” said Miller-Meeks.
Kennedy’s original 2020 law saved taxpayer money by directing the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) to temporarily share its Death Master File—a record of deceased individuals—with the Treasury Department to avoid erroneous payments.
Kennedy’s new Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act would permanently allow the SSA to share the Death Master File with the Treasury Department’s Do Not Pay system. This critical change would rein in the government’s ability to make improper payments to deceased people in the future.
This legislation would also allow the Treasury’s Do Not Pay system to compare death information from the SSA with personal information from other federal entities and to share this information with any paying or administering agency authorized to use the Do Not Pay system.
Background:
Kennedy has long championed the cause of saving billions of dollars in taxpayer money by ending improper payments to deceased Americans:
- In December 2024, Kennedy urged his colleagues from the U.S. Senate floor to save taxpayer dollars by supporting the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased Americans Act.
- In 2021, Kennedy wrote an op-ed sounding the alarm on the government’s sending more than $1 billion to deceased Americans.
- Kennedy’s Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act became law in December 2020, with its three-year exchange period running from December 27, 2023, to December 27, 2025.
- In 2019, Kennedy questioned U.S. Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro about improper payments sent to deceased Americans.
View Kennedy’s January 2026 video update on his work to stop sending checks to deceased people here.
Full bill text is available here.
