Lawmakers approved legislation to permanently stop federal benefit payments to dead individuals by mandating data sharing between Social Security and other agencies, according to Sen. John Kennedy.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Congress has passed legislation designed to prevent federal benefit payments from being issued to deceased individuals, sending the measure to President Trump for signature after clearing both chambers. The bill, championed by Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, would permanently authorize data sharing between the Social Security Administration and other federal agencies to curb improper payments.
In a video posted on X, Kennedy said the Social Security Administration maintains a list of deceased Americans known as the Death Master File but had not routinely shared that information across the federal government. According to Kennedy, the lack of coordination allowed billions of dollars in improper payments to continue flowing.
The issue came to Kennedy’s attention after he learned that the SSA believed it required explicit congressional authorization to share its death records with other agencies, including the Treasury Department. Kennedy said that without that authority, the names of deceased individuals could not be fully incorporated into the Treasury’s Do Not Pay system.
Kennedy first responded by sponsoring the Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, which allowed the SSA to temporarily share Death Master File data with the Treasury Department. He later introduced a follow-up measure, the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, to make that data-sharing arrangement permanent.
“I have been working for years, literally years, to target welfare fraud — especially the fraudsters who conduct fraud in the name of deceased Americans,” Kennedy said. “In 2023 alone, for example, the federal government sent $1.3 billion — not million, billion. The federal government sent $1.3 billion to dead people.”
Kennedy explained how the system is supposed to work, noting that when an individual dies, states transmit that information to the SSA, which then records the name in the Death Master File. Despite that centralized record, he said, the information was not being effectively shared across agencies responsible for issuing payments.
“It’s so pervasive that the Social Security Administration — which maintains a list of dead Americans, known as the Death Master File,” Kennedy said. “If someone dies, the state sends the name of the deceased person to the Social Security Administration, and that person’s name is listed on what’s called the Death Master File.”
In the video, Kennedy described his frustration after confronting the agency about the lack of coordination. “We found that Social Security was not sharing this information — the names of the folks on the Death Master File, with the rest of the federal government. One branch of government wasn’t talking to another branch of government,” he said.
He recalled being told the agency needed Congress’s approval to share the data. “I didn’t argue with them, I said, ‘I’m just going to pass a bill,’” Kennedy said, referring to the original legislation authorizing limited data sharing.
According to Kennedy, the temporary arrangement proved effective. “Since December of 2023, this bill has saved the federal government at least $330 million in improper payments,” he said. “We’re no longer paying dead people, and having their friends, or relatives, or whomever cash the checks.”
Kennedy said the success of the pilot effort made clear that permanent authorization was necessary. “It was obvious that Congress needed to make this data sharing arrangement permanent,” he said.
He announced that the House has now passed the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act after it had already cleared the Senate. “This bill had already passed the Senate, and now that it’s passed the House, it’s on its way to President Trump’s desk so he can sign it into law,” Kennedy said.
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