October 03, 2025

Senate Passes Wyden Bill to End Government Payments to Deceased Americans and Prevent Weaponization of SSA Data

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Senate this week unanimously passed bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., that would save Americans’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars by curbing erroneous payments to individuals who have died.

“This bipartisan bill fixes our federal government’s payment systems so that millions of taxpayer dollars are saved every year,” Wyden said. “As Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, I am committed to ensuring that Americans’ hard earned benefits are protected. That’s why I’m supporting this bill to ensure Americans’ personal data and earned benefits from Social Security are protected.”

In 2023, the Social Security Administration began sharing its list of deceased individuals with the Treasury Department to reduce improper payments to these individuals. This data exchange, which was established by Congress on a 3-year pilot program, allowed the federal government to generate substantial savings. In its first five months, the Treasury Department announced that it recovered $31 million in fraud and improper payments. The Department also projected it would reduce more than $215 million in improper payments by 2027.

Wyden’s Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act made this data-sharing agreement permanent to prevent agencies from making improper payments to deceased people.

Wyden also authored a provision in the bill to prohibit the SSA from listing any individual in its records as ‘deceased’ unless it has clear and convincing evidence that the individual is in fact deceased. This provision was developed in response to news reports that the SSA was falsely declaring certain immigrants as ‘deceased’ to pressure legal American residents to leave the country. Following these concerning reports, Wyden demanded the SSA to stop this illegal, unconstitutional action and launch a full investigation. In June, the SSA informed Wyden that it stopped this practice. Wyden’s provision in this bill would ensure that the SSA can no longer weaponize its data to take away Americans’ earned benefits or inflict irreparable harm on living individuals.

In addition to Wyden, the bill was led by U.S. Senators John Kennedy, R-La., and Gary Peters, D-Mich. The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Ashley Moody, R-Fla., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Mark Warner, D-Va.

The text of the bill is here.