More Than 1 Million Dead People Received Coronavirus Stimulus Checks Worth $1.4 Billion: Watchdog
HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?
Nearly $1.4 billion in coronavirus stimulus payments were disbursed to almost 1.1 million dead people as of April 30, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported Thursday. The issue, the report found, came as the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service rapidly disbursed $269 billion to 160.4 million people after the CARES Act was passed in March. While the IRS has access to death records from the Social Security Administration, the Treasury does not. The GAO, which reports to Congress, recommended that Congress “provide 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.” The report comes as President Trump and other administration officials begin a push to issue a second set of stimulus checks.