Lawmakers call pandemic unemployment fraud ‘the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars’
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Congress is trying to find out how many fraudulent unemployment claims were filed during the pandemic. During the height of it, the government doled out trillions in relief spending.
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“I have heard from many individuals that federal pandemic unemployment was a lifeline for providing for basic necessities,” Rep. Judy Chu, (D) California, said.
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Lawmakers now say some of that was used for “the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars.” That’s the title of the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on unchecked unemployment fraud.
“We know that nobody in the private sector would run a business like this because they can’t borrow endlessly or they can’t print it if they need it,” Rep. Mike Kelly, (R) Pennsylvania, said. “This is an irresponsible model that continues to burn through hard working taxpayers’ pockets.”
A key question for lawmakers is how much money are we talking about here? Two experts estimated on the low end the fraud is between $60 billion and $76 billion. Another said it’s too early to give an estimate, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it exceeds $100 billion.
Read: DOJ: Feeding Our Future founder among 47 charged in $250 million theft scheme from pandemic program
Rep. Beth Van Duyne asked if there is any hope of ever seeing these dollars again.
“It’s going to take a while,” Larry Turner, Inspector General for the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General, said. “As you know, a lot of the fraud is still out there”
“The public should know we’re going to do everything we can in our power to try to crackdown and find every dollar,” Michael Horowitz, chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, responded.
The focus is also turning to the future now.
“What do you feel is the most important step the Biden administration Department of Labor should take to try to see that we never have this happen again,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett, (D) Texas, asked.
“You don’t catch everybody, and you don’t certainly recover all the money,” Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General for the Government Accountability Office, answered. “The only way to effectively deal with this is to prevent it upfront.”
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A government watchdog said it expects to have a clearer picture of the fraud later this summer.
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