The U.S. Treasury Department says a newly expanded payment verification system has prevented nearly $100 million in taxpayer funds from being distributed to deceased recipients as part of a broader effort to identify improper payments before federal money leaves government accounts.
The Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service uncovered more than 4,900 attempted disbursements associated with deceased individuals after reviewing approximately 885 million federal payments totaling nearly $2.7 trillion.
The payments, valued at about $99 million, were prevented from being issued and sent back to the federal agencies that initiated them for review.
Treasury officials said payments connected to deceased recipients can indicate improper payments and may require additional review to determine whether fraud or administrative errors occurred.Â
The department said the verification process is designed to identify issues before taxpayer funds are transferred rather than attempting to recover money after payments have already been made.
The amount prevented from being distributed represents a small percentage of the overall transactions reviewed.
According to Treasury figures, the $99 million identified accounted for approximately 0.0036 percent of the nearly $2.7 trillion examined during the review.
However, the department said the amount discovered was more than three times higher than the amount of payments to deceased recipients identified before the administration expanded the screening process.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department’s expanded safeguards were part of an effort to reduce improper payments and strengthen the federal payment system.
“Treasury has delivered on a key promise of President Trump’s mandate to stop improper payments and fraud before money leaves the Treasury, and strengthen the integrity of the federal payment system,” Bessent said in a statement, according to the New York Post.
Bessent said the verification efforts are intended to ensure government payments reach eligible recipients while improving protections against fraud and waste.
He also highlighted coordination with Vice President JD Vance’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud as part of broader efforts to modernize federal payment systems and improve oversight of taxpayer-funded programs.
The Treasury Department used the federal Do Not Pay program as one of the tools involved in the review.
The program is designed to verify recipient identity, eligibility, and bank account information before federal payments or awards are issued.
Treasury also used additional verification methods after significantly expanding its use of payment screening systems in 2025 under Trump administration directives.
The department’s access to information used to identify deceased recipients was strengthened through the Social Security Administration’s “Full Death Master File.”
Legislation passed in 2021 provided Treasury with temporary access to the database, allowing officials to compare payment records against death information during the verification process.
In February, President Donald Trump signed the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, which gave Treasury permanent access to the death records.
The department said the expanded access would allow officials to continue identifying payments that may be improperly directed to individuals who are no longer living.
The effort follows a broader push by the Trump administration to examine federal spending and reduce improper payments.
Treasury officials said the payment verification process is intended to improve the accuracy of government disbursements and provide additional protections for taxpayer funds.
The Treasury Department has projected that the expanded safeguards targeting payments to deceased individuals could generate approximately $330 million in net benefits by reducing improper payments.
Officials said the department will continue efforts to strengthen payment security and improve fraud prevention measures across federal programs.
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