The Trump administration delivers on one of its directives: to crack down on payments to dead people costing the federal government millions.
In a review of 885 million payments worth $2.77 trillion since March 2025, the Department of the Treasury has identified more than 4,900 payments to deceased individuals totaling around $99 million. Improper payments to dead recipients can be a common method of fraud. Reviewing likely identity theft several years ago, the Government Accountability Office found tens of thousands of deceased individuals who had likely had their identities stolen. Luckily, funds found to be heading to dead people were returned to their originating federal agencies before distribution, so these payments were never in the possession of fraudulent individuals.
President Trump had made this a focus of his administration with Executive Order 14249: “Protecting America’s Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse.” The order directed the Treasury to implement new verification methods to detect improper payments more easily and effectively. In the verification process, new payment verification tools and the Do Not Pay program work to cross-check applications, confirming an applicant’s identity, eligibility, and bank account information across federal databases, preventing misattributed funds from ever being sent to the incorrect individuals in the first place.
The results build on steps already taken by the Trump administration. In February, President Trump signed into law a measure that granted the Treasury permanent access to the Social Security Administration’s “Full Death Master File,” which compiles death information from across the country. This law made permanent a three-year pilot program which had already identified $31 million in federal payments going to dead people.
The Trump administration’s programs to reduce fraud and wasteful spending are working successfully, returning payments to the federal government in a cost-effective manner. In 2024, for instance, the Do Not Pay program spent $4.6 million to discover $113.5 million in improper payments—a 23-to-1 return on investment. The Trump administration’s focus on discovering and stopping erroneous payments shows a strong commitment to making the government run efficiently.
Good government means a more efficient use of taxpayer money. Eradicating obvious improper payments and making it harder for fraud to occur through processes that ensure government agencies are working together to stop the government from wasting money. The money that the federal government would have erroneously sent to dead people can now be used to provide other services. The proven success of this program since its inception in March shows that it will continue to be a strong tool to stop improper payments in the future.
Bottom Line
Americans win when the government stops wasteful spending and focuses its money on the people who need it most. Programs that successfully eliminate fraud and payments to dead individuals focus on what really matters: delivering help to people and programs who truly need it.