When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, millions of Americans experienced unprecedented job loss, and Congress took action to help bridge the gap. However, House Democrats needlessly extended federally-funded temporary unemployment programs under the American Rescue Plan Act a year into the pandemic and long after the vast majority of Americans had the opportunity to return to work. Moreover, two-thirds of those who received the extended payments made more money from unemployment than they would have made when they were working! As a result, we’ve seen the cost of this program skyrocket to over $900 billion while fewer people went back to work. Even worse, the Department of Labor (DOL) estimates potential fraud payments could be as high as $186 billion!
As senior Republican on the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) subcommittee on the House Education and Labor Committee, I spoke about this issue during my opening statement in a hearing this week. The Biden administration issued guidance allowing states to ignore suspicious overpayments... they should be helping states to recover stolen money, not putting roadblocks in their way or encouraging them to ignore fraudulent behavior! Congress must carry out its oversight functions to ensure this never happens again.
Click here to hear my full remarks.
