This bill sets up new fraud prevention work inside the Treasury Department and creates a permanent Office of the Inspector General for Fraud, Accountability, and Recovery. It gives the Treasury's Fiscal Service responsibility for running and expanding the Do Not Pay system and for building a governmentwide data analysis program. The data program would collect and analyze records from federal agencies, States, and non-government entities to detect fraud and improper payments. Agencies would be required to share data about known or suspected fraud, screen potential awardees and payees against a centralized fraud database before awards or payments, and screen certain cyber activity before changes to virtual identity or payment information. The bill creates a new Inspector General position appointed by the President with Senate confirmation. The Office would audit and investigate ‘‘covered funds,’’ coordinate with other Inspectors General and law enforcement, produce reports, run a public website, and may receive transferred assets from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. The new Inspector General office and many related authorities take effect on December 31, 2028, and some OMB and Treasury directives must be issued by March 1, 2029.
If you are a recipient of federal funds, or a subrecipient or payee, the bill would require agencies to screen awardees and payees against a centralized fraud database before making awards or payments. Agencies and some non-government entities that administer federal funds may need to share fraud-related data with the Treasury. The new Inspector General will oversee programs that use specified federal funds (called "covered funds") and publish reports and findings on the use and oversight of those funds. States and federally funded programs are included in the data sharing and screening activities described in the bill.
The bill authorizes $10,000,000 to be appropriated each year beginning in fiscal year 2035 to carry out the duties of the new Inspector General office. The bill also transfers assets and any unobligated or unexpended balances from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee to the new Office on December 31, 2028, and allows those balances to be used to support the Office's work. No publicly available information on other estimated costs or budget effects for building the data analysis program or expanding Fiscal Service operations is included in the bill text provided.
The bill's stated purpose is to establish fraud prevention and program integrity functions within the Treasury and a permanent Inspector General to detect and prevent improper payments, improve program integrity, and coordinate oversight and data sharing across agencies and covered funds.
No publicly available information.