US tells states to deal with unemployment fraud or face penalties
The department said states could lose administrative funds as federal officials cite weak oversight, outdated systems and up to $135 billion in pandemic-era fraud.
- On Wednesday, Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling sent letters to 53 U.S. states and territories demanding immediate action to combat unemployment insurance fraud, threatening to withhold administrative funds for the first time in history.
- Vice President JD Vance's anti-fraud task force is overseeing the initiative, which follows Government Accountability Office estimates that fraud accounted for 11% to 15% of unemployment insurance payouts from April 2020 through May 2023.
- The Labor Department cited poor oversight, outdated technology, and weak identity verification in California, Illinois, and New York as systemic failures allowing unprecedented fraud to flourish in these three states.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office criticized the move, with spokesperson Marissa Saldivar blaming "lax regulations and rushed distribution" of benefits by the first Trump administration during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Labor Department will issue further directives in coming weeks as the administration expands enforcement tactics previously used by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services against state programs.
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70 Articles
Trump threatens unemployment funding cuts to states
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s partnership with NOTUS, a nonpartisan news organization that covers government and politics with the fresh eyes of early career journalists and the expertise of veteran reporters. The Department of Labor’s historic threat to withhold funding from states’ unemployment insurance programs didn’t quite land with the weight the government apparently intended: Several states told NOTUS they didn’t k…
Trump Administration Puts ALL 50 States and Territories on Notice: Clean Up Unemployment Fraud or Risk Losing Federal Funding * The Gateway Pundit * by Jim Hᴏft
Department of Labor (Credit: Ed Brown) The Trump administration is once again taking aim at government waste, fraud, and abuse, this time warning all 50 states that federal funding for unemployment insurance administration could be on the chopping block if governors fail to crack down on rampant fraud within their systems. Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling has sent formal letters on Wednesday to the governors of all 50 states and U.S. terr…
U.S. tells states to deal with unemployment fraud - or face penalties
The U.S. Department of Labor told states Wednesday to take immediate action to combat fraud, waste and abuse in their unemployment insurance programs — and that they could have administrative funds withheld if they don't comply.
Trump Threatens to Withhold Unemployment Funds From Every State in America
The Trump administration is now threatening something so sweeping it almost sounds like a dare: cut off federal unemployment assistance funding to every state in the country. All 50 of them. Plus territories. The stated reason is the administration’s familiar mantra: “fraud, waste, and abuse.” But the scale of the threat is what’s raising eyebrows. Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling sent a letter to governors warning that the federal govern…
The Toronto Star
US tells states to deal with unemployment fraud or face penalties
The U.S. Labor Department told all 50 states on Wednesday that they need to get serious about fighting fraud and waste in unemployment insurance, or else they won't get more
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