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As President #DonaldTrump and his administration prepare for distributing another round of stimulus checks to the country, they ran into a small issue that they can’t quite overlook. The federal government sent coronavirus stimulus payments to almost 1.1 million dead people totaling nearly $1.4 billion, Congress states in a report.
How could something like this happen? Well, an independent investigative agency found the issue in a comprehensive report on the nearly $3 trillion in coronavirus relief spending approved by Congress in March and April. It said it had received information from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration in an accounting as of April 30th. This news that so much money has gone to the dead could ass to reluctance from some Republicans to agree to more direct relief payments.
The problem relates partly to the fact that, while the IRS has access to the Social Security Administration’s full set of death records, the Treasury Department and its Bureau of the Fiscal Service (which actually issues the payments) do not have access to the records.
Sources say that Congress should provide the “Treasury with access to the Social Security Administration’s full set of death records and require that Treasury consistently use it, to help reduce similar types of improper payments”.
If you’re wondering what the hold up is for the second round of money, this is just one huge factor. The GAO (Government Accountability Office) findings led Democrats to accuse Republicans and the Trump administration of failure on oversight. We will keep this site updated with news on this.
