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House Subcommittee Hearing on Reclaiming Nearly $1 Billion in Frozen Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Funds

March 6, 2026 · Ways and Means Committee Republicans · 1:41:06

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Work and Welfare Subcommittee Chairman Darren LaHood opened the hearing, titled on reclaiming frozen fraudulent pandemic unemployment funds, by citing GAO’s estimate that $100 to $135 billion in pandemic unemployment funds were lost to foreign and domestic fraudsters and international crime rings. He said a new investigation had found nearly $1 billion in forgotten taxpayer funds held by banks and tied to pandemic unemployment fraud, on thousands of prepaid debit cards issued by states.

LaHood said inspector general reports from January 30 and February 11 of this year showed one financial institution holding $523 million in potentially fraudulent funds across 2.7 million debit cards, a second holding $197 million, and another $192 million already transferred to state unclaimed property — funds that, he said, escaped the fraudsters but were being absorbed by state coffers instead of being returned to the federal Treasury, with an estimated 78 percent of the identified funds being federal.

Ranking Member Danny Davis said Democrats also support recovering fraudulent payments while urging fixes to benefit access and program integrity staffing. Witnesses included Anthony D’Esposito, Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor; Linda Miller of the Program Integrity Alliance; and Michele Evermore, who addressed the capacity of state unemployment systems, the challenge of confirming identities, and how AI is changing fraud. Members pressed the witnesses on recovering the frozen funds and holding those responsible accountable.

Why it matters

The hearing documents a recoverable slice of pandemic unemployment fraud — money frozen before reaching fraudsters but stranded at banks and in state unclaimed-property systems — and the congressional push to route it back to the federal Treasury.

Scoreboard watch

The subcommittee put on record nearly $1 billion in identified frozen or transferred funds, about 78 percent federal; whether those funds are recovered to the Treasury is checkable against subsequent Labor Department and committee reporting.

Sources: Ways and Means Committee Republicans, “Work & Welfare Subcommittee Hearing on Reclaiming Frozen Fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Funds”, 2026-03-06 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-03-06). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.