The Trump Administration Sent $1.4 Billion In Stimulus Checks To Dead People

TOPLINE

The Trump Administration sent more than a million stimulus checks worth $1.4 billion to deceased people, according to data released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office—the watchdog report comes as lawmakers continue to disagree on how to approach the economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White ... [+] House on June 23, 2020, in Washington, D.C.

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KEY FACTS

The findings were part of a comprehensive report on the effectiveness of the trillions in stimulus spending the federal government has undertaken to cushion to economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic.

The GAO said the problem relates to the way data on who is deceased is made accessible to government agencies: the IRS has access to the Social Security Administration’s death records, but the arm of the Treasury Department that issued the stimulus payments does not.

As part of its report, the GAO recommended that Congress give the Treasury Department access to that death data.

The GAO also recommended that the IRS consider its options for notifying the people about how to return payments they received quickly.

In May, the IRS issued new guidance clarifying that a “payment made to someone who died before receipt of the payment should be returned” and provided instructions for sending back checks that were received in error.

It’s still not clear, however, whether survivors who received the checks in error are legally required to do that.

BIG NUMBER

160.4 million. That’s how many stimulus payments were sent out by the IRS in total. All in, those payments were worth $269 billion.

Tangent

The GAO report also found that because of an error in how payment calculations were made, almost half a million households that used an online IRS tool for those who don’t file tax returns did not receive the $500 payments for children that they should have.

Key background

President Trump has told his aides that he supports sending another stimulus payment directly to Americans, the Washington Post reported earlier this week, even though some officials in his administration aren’t on board. According to the Post, which cited three people familiar with the White House’s internal deliberations, Trump believes the payments will help boost the economy, and thus his chances of reelection in the fall. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has spoken in favor of sending another round of checks, while senior economic advisor Larry Kudlow is opposed to sending out another round as large as the first.

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