U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative,
On behalf of the millions of members and supporters of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, I urge you to oppose H.R. 8464, the so-called “Stopping Fraudulent Payments Act”. Members of the National Committee come from all walks of life and every political persuasion. What unites them is their passion for protecting and strengthening Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the other programs that are so vitally important to older Americans.
H.R. 8464 is ostensibly intended to identify and eliminate fraud in federally funded programs. Ensuring that federal funding reaches eligible recipients, while preventing and addressing real, proven instances of fraud, is not only a laudable goal, it represents a critical part of good governance that has typically garnered bipartisan support.
Unfortunately, H.R. 8464 does not achieve this goal. While proponents of the bill have argued that it is narrow and focused on fraud prevention, in fact the language is extremely broad and vague, and would allow any administration to stop, delay, or condition payments for programs it opposes, or in states that it disfavors, using claims of fraudulent spending as a pretext to take away or hold up funding. In effect, it not only permits but could encourage the Executive Branch to further weaponize the allocation of federal funding and undercut Congress’ constitutional authority over federal spending.
Indeed, the Trump Administration has already attempted or threatened to block federal funds that help people afford health care, food, child care, and other basic needs, claiming concerns about fraud, but often without providing evidence or misstating the facts. Giving it more leeway to determine what is a sufficient reason to block federal payments is dangerous given its recent actions. In fact, the Administration has already suggested that increased Medicaid spending on home and community-based services, such as helping older adults and people with disabilities with bathing, dressing, and eating, may be related to fraud when this broader trend actually reflects policy choices to prioritize home care over institutional care. Additionally, during a recent Cabinet meeting, the President continued to falsely claim that 150-year-olds are receiving Social Security payments, a claim that originated with the mountain of falsehoods that emanated from Elon Musk’s DOGE and its unlawful incursion into federally protected Social Security databases. False claims such as these could easily be used to justify cutting the earned Social Security benefits of millions of vulnerable seniors, the disabled, and SSI recipients under the broad language in this bill.
The consequences of such actions by the administration could be catastrophic to individuals and communities, as they are left starved for funds, forcing them to halt vital services such as housing, healthcare and food security – all before any actual wrongdoing is identified or proven. Any suspicion of elevated fraud risk could be sufficient to block vitally needed funding to millions who legitimately are entitled to the support – subverting due process and leaving legitimate recipients of state-administered federal funds without immediate avenues to challenge the seizure.
While fraudulent access to federal funds should be and must be attacked, H.R. 8464 would legitimize the withholding of funds to reward favored individuals and groups while destroying those who do not agree with the actions of this or future administrations. Congress must restore its rightful place in our system of checks and balances by opposing this dangerous bill. We urge you to oppose H.R. 8464.
Sincerely,
Max Richtman
President and CEO