H.Res. 1335

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1335 Engrossed in House (EH)]

<DOC>
H. Res. 1335

In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

June 11, 2026.
Whereas fraud and improper payments in Federal agency programs is an 
unsustainable national fiscal emergency;
Whereas the Comptroller General of the United States documented in 2025 that the 
Federal Government has improperly paid about $3,000,000,000,000 since 
2003 where payments should not have been made or were made incorrectly;
Whereas the measured governmentwide improper payment rate has increased from the 
prior year, with the Comptroller General of the United States recently 
reporting that in fiscal year 2025 Federal agencies reported 
approximately $186,000,000,000 in estimated improper payments, an 
increase of about $24,000,000,000 from fiscal year 2024 documented 
improper payments;
Whereas the Comptroller General of the United States also estimates that, based 
on data from 2018 to 2022 the Federal Government loses between 
$233,000,000,000 and $521,000,000,000 annually to fraud across all 
Federal programs and operations;
Whereas each one of these fraudulently spent tax dollars is taken at the expense 
of a hard-working American;
Whereas, based on the Comptroller General's estimate of the average annual 
amount of fraud losses, between $1,000 to $3,000 a year represents the 
average American tax filer's share of the Federal Government's total 
fraudulent spending;
Whereas fraud and improper payments have long been a concern for Congress, 
pandemic-era spending programs exposed the vulnerability of Federal 
agencies to criminals and malicious actors who had not previously 
targeted United States Government programs;
Whereas, between March 2020 and March 2021, Congress enacted a series of six 
laws providing over $4,600,000,000,000 in Federal funds to mitigate the 
economic and public health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 
Congress appropriating over $2,700,000,000,000 for these purposes in the 
first four months of the pandemic alone;
Whereas the unprecedented expansion of government programs, changes to program 
eligibility requirements, an influx of government spending, and lack of 
commensurate and adequate fraud prevention and financial management 
capabilities, created a perfect scenario for existing program and 
payment integrity weaknesses to be exploited;
Whereas, in total, while the true extent of pandemic relief fraud may never be 
known, the Comptroller General of the United States observes that 
``hundreds of billions of dollars in potentially fraudulent payments 
were disbursed'';
Whereas fraud in Federal programs delays and prevents individuals who 
legitimately need services, as Congress intended in establishing such 
programs, from receiving them;
Whereas fraud in Federal programs severely undermines the public's trust in the 
government causing unquantifiable additional damage to the United 
States;
Whereas trust has further been eroded as specific fraud schemes have been 
uncovered through recent congressional, Federal, and local 
investigations;
Whereas significant fraud risks exist in programs that are federally funded and 
administered by State, territorial, and local agencies;
Whereas the ongoing investigation by the Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform of the House of Representatives of fraud in Minnesota's social 
services programs has highlighted real examples of fraud schemes that 
stole billions of dollars from federally funded programs, taking 
advantage of severely lacking State level program integrity and agency 
oversight functions;
Whereas the ongoing investigation by the Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform of the House of Representatives of fraud in California's 
federally funded hospice programs, including providers potentially 
overbilling Medicare and enrolling beneficiaries without their 
knowledge, raises valid concerns that California lacks sufficient 
internal controls to detect and prevent fraud and is not conducting 
proper oversight of these hospice programs;
Whereas the ongoing investigation by the Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform of the House of Representatives of fraud in Medicaid personal 
care services authorized by Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) 
waivers, including providers potentially improperly billing Medicaid or 
billing for services that were never provided, raises valid concerns of 
significant fraud in HCBS Medicaid waiver programs in Ohio and other 
States across the country;
Whereas a March 4, 2026, interim report by the Majority staff of the Committee 
on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives found 
that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith 
Ellison ``were aware of widespread fraud in federally funded social 
services programs for years, possessed the legal and procedural 
authority to stop payments, but repeatedly failed to act'';
Whereas the same March 4, 2026, report found that senior officials in the 
Governor Walz's office and Attorney General Ellison's office were 
``aware of credible fraud concerns in Minnesota's social services 
programs as early as 2019 within the Department of Human Services (DHS) 
and by April 2020 within the Department of Education (MDE), despite 
later public statements by Governor Walz suggesting otherwise''.
Whereas, based on these investigations, the House of Representatives has 
observed that State agencies have little incentive to ensure that 
Federal funds are spent efficiently, or appropriately, and frequently 
prioritize program access over payment integrity;
Whereas, based on these investigations, the House of Representatives has 
observed that State agencies overly rely on the self-attested compliance 
and reimbursement claims of providers and service enrollees, leaving 
these programs highly susceptible to fraud;
Whereas the Comptroller General of the United States has also documented how 
mechanisms of misrepresentation by criminals and malicious actors, such 
as document manipulation, false declarations, and creating fictitious 
entities, leave Federal programs open to significant fraud risk when 
they rely on recipient self-attestation to determine award eligibility 
and payment verification;
Whereas, in response to the rampant fraud identified in several States, the 
Trump administration established the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud 
through Executive Order 14395 (91 Fed. Reg. 13485; relating to 
establishing the Task Force to eliminate fraud), issued on March 16, 
2026;
Whereas the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud is empowered to coordinate a national 
strategy to stop fraud, waste, and abuse, as rooted in a proper focus on 
fraud prevention rather than recovery, a critical shift in approach 
identified through the ongoing investigations by the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives, 
subcommittee hearings, and legislation favorably reported to the House 
of Representatives;
Whereas, in March 2026, Federal prosecutors charged eleven individuals, 
including two foreign nationals, in a major real estate and loan fraud 
ring preying on elderly victims in California;
Whereas, between March 25, 2026, and April 15, 2026, the Task Force to Eliminate 
Fraud suspended nearly 450 California-based hospice and home health 
providers due to suspected fraud, with estimated fraud exceeding 
$600,000,000;
Whereas, in April 2026, the Department of Justice secured a guilty plea from a 
California-based provider who submitted nearly $270,000,000 in 
fraudulent Medicaid claims;
Whereas the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud suspended $1,400,000,000 in home 
health and hospice funding nationwide, with 90 percent of the suspended 
providers failing to contact the Federal Government since payments were 
suspended;
Whereas the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud uncovered $6,300,000,000 
in suspected fraudulent government contracts, resulting in an immediate 
investigation into nearly 400 businesses;
Whereas, on April 17, 2026, the Department of Justice announced that in the 
first week since its establishment, the National Fraud Enforcement 
Division exposed over $340,000,000 in fraudulent schemes;
Whereas the Department of Justice has also discovered that $250,000,000 meant 
for a child nutrition program was instead spent on luxury cars and 
overseas real estate holdings;
Whereas, between April 26, 2026, and May 13, 2026, the Secretary of Education 
blocked $60,000,000 in fraudulent student loan applications following 
the launch of a risk assessment tool to screen Federal student aid 
applications for fraud;
Whereas conducting award recipient eligibility determinations and payment 
verification prior to issuing awards and payments is the primary policy 
reform needed to address the national fiscal emergency related to fraud 
and improper payments in Federal agency programs; and
Whereas the House of Representatives in response to such emergency has expedited 
the drafting and consideration of governmentwide fraud prevention and 
improper payment reforms: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns the fraudulent actions of those seeking to defraud the 
United States Government;
(2) believes governmentwide fraud and improper payment prevention 
legislative and policy reforms will meaningfully improve the continued 
financial prosperity of the United States Government and the American 
taxpayer; and
(3) believes Federal program eligibility and spending activities 
should be verified prior to payments being issued.
Attest:

Clerk.