WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans are set to introduce a comprehensive package of 16 legislative proposals aimed at combating fraud, with an estimated potential savings of $240 billion for taxpayers, sources have informed The Post.
Named the Protecting American Taxpayers Act, this initiative is led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who chairs the Senate DOGE Caucus. The effort is a joint venture among GOP lawmakers, gaining momentum following a major fraud scandal in Minnesota earlier this year.
In the past four months, these lawmakers have collaborated to devise strategies to recover misappropriated funds, prevent federal money from being misused abroad, enhance oversight of government expenditures, and crack down on fraudulent activities.
“Politicians and lenient, liberal judges often ignore the fact that criminals siphon off more than $1 billion from taxpayers each day,” Ernst explained to The Post.
“The Protecting American Taxpayers Act not only aims to prevent fraud before it occurs and hold offenders accountable but also seeks to return pilfered funds to their rightful owners—the taxpayers.”
Following the eruption of the Minnesota fraud scandal, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SC) tasked Ernst with rallying Republican support for a comprehensive set of anti-fraud initiatives, with plans to bring them to the Senate floor for a vote.
While it’s not guaranteed to pass, the goal is to get Republicans on the same page and put pressure on Democrats over the fraud issue.
“This overdue legislation will soon be brought to a vote to put every senator on the record on whether they stand with swindlers or taxpayers,” the Hawkeye State Republican added.
While the exact scale of fraud afflicting the federal government is difficult to measure, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimated that between $233 billion and $521 billion of federal dollars were lost to fraud between 2018 and 2022.
It also found that there were over $2.8 trillion worth of improper payments since fiscal year 2023.
One of the measures in the legislative bundle is aimed at giving lawmakers more data on improper federal payments so that Congress can crack down on them.
The Protecting American Taxpayers Act includes a range of actions, such as creating a task force to examine deep fake fraud, extending the statute of limitations to prosecute COVID-19-related crimes, blocking funds from going to countries subject to US arms embargoes or travel bans, and modernizing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
To recover funds stolen by fraud, the legislation enacts policies such as restricting payments from being made until a service is provided, rescinding some $65 billion in unspent COVID-19 funds, giving bonuses to watchdog employees who catch fraud, and cutting off convicted fraudsters from Small Business Administration assistance.
The legislative bundles also require the Treasury to provide more details and cross-check outlays, restrict individuals who receive government assistance from wiring money abroad, and beef up whistleblower protections
Lawmakers involved with helping craft the legislative bundle include Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.) Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Tim Sheey (R-Mont.), Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), and Jon Husted (R-Ohio).
