(The Center Square) – Republican lawmakers are urging the Department of Justice to recover millions of taxpayer dollars sent as pensions to thousands of deceased Americans.
Education and Workforce Committee Chair Tim Walberg, R-Mich, and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chair Rick Allen, R-Ga., sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday requesting an update about the DOJ’s investigation into improper payments, sourced from federal COVID-19 aid, to multiemployer union pension plans.
Congress passed the American Rescue Plan in 2021, which created the Special Financial Assistance Program (SFA) to save the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), which was failing financially.
The PBGC proceeded to approve over $127 million in SFA program overpayments for at least 3,479 deceased participants of the Central States Pension Fund.
Although the DOJ announced it had entered a civil settlement agreement with Central States to recover the wrongly allocated money, more than 60 other plans received similar improper payments, and only half have repaid – a total of nearly $165 million taxpayer dollars
“PBGC reports that, as of February 7, 2025, about 30 of these 60 plans have voluntarily repaid nearly $30 million. Therefore, no repayments have been made from the other 30 plans,” the lawmakers wrote. “We are concerned that these other plans have not restored the improper payments.”
Created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, PBGC insures private pension plans for more than 30 million Americans.
The Committee had sent a letter 12 months ago to PBGC Director Gordon Hartogensis saying money given to his federal group under the American Rescue Plan Act was misspent. The PBGC blamed the errors on bad Census data and has pledged to increase cross-checking with Social Security’s death database.
The lawmakers added the Biden administration DOJ had ignored their previous letters highlighting the issue. Walberg and Foxx appeared confident that the Trump administration’s response will be different.
“With the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump and your confirmation as Attorney General, we have an opportunity to address these improper payments and to secure repayments for taxpayers,” they concluded. “We look forward to your working with you and DOJ during the 119th Congress.”