H.R. 2716 (119th)Bill Overview

Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act

Social Welfare|Disability assistanceIntergovernmental relations
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
Apr 8, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does

The bill amends a provision of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 to require the Commissioner of Social Security, to the extent feasible, to provide information furnished to the Commissioner to the agency operating the Do Not Pay working system. It requires that such data-sharing occur through a cooperative arrangement and comply with existing subparagraph requirements for authorized uses.

Why people may split

Left insists on strong privacy, accuracy, and appeal protections

Watch point

Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a narrowly focused administrative amendment that is integrated clearly into existing statutory text and identifies the responsible officials and an effective date, but it provides limited operational detail, no funding or resource acknowledgment, minimal attention to safeguards or edge cases, and no measurement or reporting provisions.

The bill amends a provision of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 to require the Commissioner of Social Security, to the extent feasible, to provide information furnished to the Commissioner to the agency operating the Do Not Pay working system.

It requires that such data-sharing occur through a cooperative arrangement and comply with existing subparagraph requirements for authorized uses.

The bill also adjusts a statutory date via a conforming amendment and makes the amendments effective on December 28, 2026.

Passage70/100

Technical, cost-saving coordination measure with low controversy; main barriers are procedural rather than substantive.

CredibilityPartially aligned

Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a narrowly focused administrative amendment that is integrated clearly into existing statutory text and identifies the responsible officials and an effective date, but it provides limited operational detail, no funding or resource acknowledgment, minimal attention to safeguards or edge cases, and no measurement or reporting provisions.

Contention18/100

Left insists on strong privacy, accuracy, and appeal protections

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Likely benefits vs burdens50% / 50%
Federal agenciesLikely burdened

These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.

Likely helped
  • Federal agenciesMay reduce improper federal payments to deceased people by improving data matching across agencies.
  • Federal agenciesCould lower federal program overpayments and related recoupment costs through earlier identification.
  • Federal agenciesEnhances interagency information sharing and operational coordination for payment integrity efforts.
Likely burdened
  • Potential burdenRaises privacy and civil liberties concerns about expanded sharing of Social Security data.
  • Potential burdenIncreases SSA and Do Not Pay administrative workload to establish and manage cooperative arrangements.
  • Potential burdenCreates risk of erroneous matches or wrongful payment stoppages if data quality or processes are imperfect.
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

Left insists on strong privacy, accuracy, and appeal protections
Progressive75%

Likely supportive of preventing improper payments and protecting Social Security integrity, while cautious about privacy and due-process risks.

Will want clear safeguards for beneficiaries, error correction, and oversight of data-sharing.

Support is conditional on strong privacy, transparency, and appeals protections.

Leans supportive
Centrist70%

Generally favorable to improving administrative coordination and reducing improper payments, but pragmatic about implementation details.

Will request cost estimates, clear legal authority, and phased rollout.

Support depends on demonstrable safeguards and minimal disruption to beneficiaries.

Leans supportive
Conservative85%

Likely supportive as a targeted anti-fraud, pro-accountability measure that protects taxpayer dollars.

Views the change as modest administrative reform rather than regulatory expansion.

Support will be strongest if implementation minimizes new bureaucracy and respects state roles.

Leans supportive
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood70/100

Technical, cost-saving coordination measure with low controversy; main barriers are procedural rather than substantive.

Scope and complexity
24%
Scopenarrow
24%
Complexitylow
Why this could stall
  • Absence of a formal cost estimate or projected savings
  • Operational feasibility of interagency data sharing
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

Left insists on strong privacy, accuracy, and appeal protections

Technical, cost-saving coordination measure with low controversy; main barriers are procedural rather than substantive.

Unlocked analysis

Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a narrowly focused administrative amendment that is integrated clearly into existing statutory text and identifies the responsible officials and an effective date,…

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
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