The Biden-Harris administration released a three-part proposal on March 2 asking Congress for $1.6 billion to help provide Federal agencies and local governments with more funding to handle pandemic-related fraud claims, modernize identity verification systems, and support victims of identity theft.
The spending proposal reconfirms President Biden’s commitment to boost the Federal government’s efforts to combat fraud in government relief programs during the COVID-19 pandemic – which have run as high as $60 billion in state unemployment insurance programs, and $5 billion in relief programs administered by the Small Business Administration.
According to the White House, previous pandemic relief spending bills totaling $5 trillion “were essential to mitigating the health and economic impact of this unprecedented pandemic.” Those programs attracted fraudsters, and the administration is now calling on Congress to give the Federal government additional funding to recover stolen money and to take steps to cut down on further instances of fraud.