WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congress is steps away from fulfilling President Trump’s mandate to recover taxpayer money lost to waste, fraud, and abuse. The five-year statute of limitations for prosecuting pandemic unemployment fraud starts to expire on Thursday, March 27th.
Expiration threatens to put at risk hundreds of ongoing prosecutions and efforts to pursue criminals who defrauded American taxpayers of billions. According to the Department of Labor and Department of Justice, there are 1,648 open, uncharged COVID-19 fraud investigations and over 157,000 open unemployment fraud hotline complaints.
The Senate must act quickly to approve bipartisan legislation passed by the House to extend the deadline and ensure criminals are brought to justice. The Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act (H.R. 1156) would extend the statute of limitations to 10 years and is aimed at recovering between $100 to $135 billion in jobless benefits stolen by fraudsters, gang members, prisoners, and international crime rings.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) highlighted the consequences for taxpayers if this bill doesn’t reach President Trump’s desk in time:
“We can’t afford to let these fraudsters get away with the largest heist of tax dollars in American history. Not only do we have an obligation to taxpayers to recover as much of this money as possible – up to $135 billion – we also need to send a message that we will never falter in going after criminals who take advantage of our support for those in need. This legislation received overwhelming bipartisan support in the House, and we urge our colleagues in the U.S. Senate to do the same in passing H.R. 1156, to allow law enforcement to prosecute these criminals on behalf of taxpayers. There is no time to waste.”
Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act (H.R. 1156)
Extends the statute of limitations for prosecuting COVID-era unemployment insurance (UI) fraud from five to 10 years.
- Government estimates show as much as $100-$135 billion in UI benefits were lost to fraud during the pandemic. Only $5 billion has been recovered, or less than 4 percent.
- The Department of Justice has 1,648 open, uncharged COVID-19 criminal matters and the Labor Department has reported 157,000 open UI fraud hotline complaints. Failure to extend the statute of limitations will result in criminals going unpunished and forgoing recovery of billions in taxpayer dollars.
- In 2022, Congress similarly extended the statute of limitations for prosecuting fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury and Disaster Loans to 10 years.
- The bill is supported by the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, a non-partisan association representing all 50 states administering the UI program.
Click here to read a fact sheet on the bill.