WASHINGTON, D.C. – As Democrats sabotage our jobs recovery with bloated unemployment benefits, criminals and fraudsters are lining their pockets with billions in taxpayer funds from the expanded program, write Ways and Means Republican Leader Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) in a letter to U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Martin Walsh.

The members urged the Department to implement commonsense policies that will protect hardworking taxpayers from rampant fraud and abuse, writing:

“This country needs targeted, timely investments to stop fraud now. For example, the Department should act to implement commonsense policies to stop the ‘pay and chase’ model of unemployment administration, like requiring states to verify identity and prior employment of applicants before authorizing benefits.”

Read the full letter here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• One expert estimates the amount of unemployment benefit fraud could total between $200 and $300 billion in the last year.
• Top officials at the Labor Department estimate that at least $63 billion and as much as $89 billion in unemployment insurance has been improperly paid out since March 2020, largely due to fraud.
• California’s unemployment agency reportedly has lost nearly $32 billion to fraud since the beginning of the pandemic.