TANF State Expenditure Integrity Act of 2025

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 8872. Democrats strongly oppose fraud, and that is why Representative Judy Chu and I introduced H.R. 2108, the TANF State Expenditure Integrity Act, which would give the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services specific authority to monitor sub-grantee expenditures, to ensure that they are consistent with TANF's purpose of helping poor children.

When they are not, as was the case in the egregious fraud perpetrated by Brett Favre and Governor Phil Bryant in Mississippi, H.R. 2108 would require the State to recover the funds and provide them directly to the poor families they were intended for.

Republicans refused to work with us to enact that bill, which the U.S. Government Accountability Office identified as a bill that addressed their concerns about TANF program integrity.

Instead, less than 48 hours before our markup, they introduced H.R. 8872. This GOP bill would not enable a single fraud investigation. It would not recover a penny for the poor families TANF is supposed to help. It would not have protected the children of Mississippi, when multimillionaire Brett Favre used millions of dollars in TANF funds to build a volleyball stadium and invest in health stocks, nor would it reinstate the fraud-related penalty against Mississippi that the Trump administration canceled.

What H.R. 8872 would do is give Health and Human Services new power to decide what to call fraud and how to measure it. This GOP bill would give the Trump administration new power to seize confidential beneficiary data, levy penalties, and cut off State funding to help poor children.

We know exactly what to expect if we give HHS more power, because this January, the Department of Health and Human Services abruptly froze $10 billion in critical social services funding for five States, including my home

State of Illinois, to exact revenge on Governors who stood up to President Trump.

The Trump administration intentionally chose to harm vulnerable families, children, small businesses, and communities in five States: namely, Illinois, California, Colorado, Minnesota, and New York, to settle a political score, and the Republicans in this House remained silent, not a word.

Fortunately, current law limits an administration's authority to weaponize support for low-income families. Consequently, the courts issued a restraining order that is essential to protecting tens of millions of children and families. If they had not, The Century Foundation estimates it would have cost struggling families $400 million in lost earnings and help alone, not to mention the radiating harm to businesses, communities, and economies.

Now, the Republican leadership advances this farce of a bill to erase those protections, all while failing to address the biggest source of TANF fraud.

If Republicans want to protect taxpayers, they should stop accusing hardworking parents and look to the graft and vanity projects they keep enabling.

Over the 17 months he has been back in office, President Trump increased his net worth by over $4 billion by selling cryptocurrency, insider trading, and leveraging his position. Most recently, the President spent $5 million of taxpayer money to coat bronze statues in gold leaf, enough money to buy a week's worth of groceries for 20,000 families.

If Republicans want to protect taxpayers, then, at the very least, Congress should not give HHS any new power to harm families the next time President Trump decides to lash out at a Governor who spoke up about the harm his policies and corruptions have done to American families.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I just want to remind my colleagues that despite the rhetoric we will hear this afternoon on the floor, there is nothing in this bill that actually addresses fraud in the TANF program. Nowhere in H.R. 8872, outside of its title, does the word ``fraud'' even appear in this bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu).

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from California.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Correa).

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

President Trump's economy has zero job creation. Skyrocketing gas prices and costly childcare make it more difficult and more expensive to work, crushing workers and families. Wage growth is slowing.

Alarmingly, this bill we consider today in the people's House intentionally fails to address any of those problems, nor does this bill take action to punish wealthy and well-connected people, people who stole tens of millions of dollars Congress provided to help some of the poorest children in Mississippi and throughout the country.

Instead, this bill would give the Trump administration's Health and Human Services new power to cut off assistance to struggling families and poor children based on the new ``error rate,'' calculations that they define to advance their cruel designs under Project 2025.

When we help Americans who are struggling pay for food, utilities, or healthcare, Republicans are quick to label it welfare and accuse recipients of fraud.

But when the Department of Justice reaches into taxpayers' pockets and steals $1.8 billion for a slush fund to pay the President and his allies, including convicted criminals who beat police officers guarding the Capitol on January 6, they remain and have remained silent.

When taxpayers' pockets pay for the President's self-anointed immunity for tax fraud not only for himself but also for his businesses and his family, it is truly reprehensible that my colleagues would remain silent.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill and to speak out against the real fraud and corruption poisoning our country. Let's make sure that we continue to help those poor, needy families and poor, needy children who need the benefits coming from a just society.

Mr. Speaker, I will vote ``no'' on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1333, I call up the bill (H.R. 8872) to amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to target funds to low-income families, strengthen program integrity guardrails for State expenditure of funds, require measurement of improper payments, and establish goals for eliminating fraud and improper payments under the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance for needy families, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 8872, the Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF Act, introduced by my Ways and Means Committee colleague Representative Mike Carey.

With an annual price tag of over $16 billion, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program is a sizable investment and plays a critical support role for families who have fallen on hard times. A core tenet of the program is promoting self-sufficiency through work, a goal I know many of us see as a cornerstone of a successful welfare system.

Unfortunately, right now, there are major weaknesses in the TANF program that make it ripe for waste, fraud, and abuse. Despite the billions of dollars flowing through TANF, it is one of the few Federal programs we have that is not required to account for improper payments.

Additionally, investigations and reporting conducted by the Government Accountability Office found that the 78 percent of TANF spending that goes toward non-assistance activities lacks guardrails to prevent abuse and misuse of these Federal resources.

With instances of fraud occurring at an alarming rate across multiple government programs at the Federal, State, and local levels, Congress must act. That is why the Ways and Means Committee has held hearings and conducted critical oversight to determine what solutions will protect taxpayers and the families who should be benefiting from programs like TANF.

The Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF Act is a straightforward piece of legislation that addresses four key areas of concern, reflecting priorities of four members of the Ways and Means Committee.

The lead sponsor of this bill, Representative Carey, has fought to keep States from sitting on TANF funds while families struggle. Right now, States are holding on to nearly $8 billion in funds because there are no spending deadlines holding them accountable. This legislation requires that States spend down their TANF funds within a 3-year window.

Representative Arrington, the chairman of the House Budget Committee who is a leader in the fight to rein in waste, fraud, and abuse in government, has championed a provision within this bill that finally requires the Federal Government to track and report instances of improper payments. This reporting is crucial to ensuring that policymakers and the American people know if tax dollars are being spent as advertised.

With her understanding of how States often repurpose TANF funds to cover unrelated gaps in State budgets, Representative Tenney has worked to ensure States only use Federal TANF resources to supplement, not replace, State and local spending.

Thanks to the leadership of Representative Adrian Smith, who has worked to ensure TANF funding is actually going to those truly in need of assistance, this bill includes a provision that establishes an income threshold of 200 percent of the Federal poverty line, which is $62,000 for a family of four, to ensure States are targeting TANF spending to give more to those who are truly in need.

These policies defend against the abuse and misuse of taxpayer dollars and improve the integrity of the TANF program to better support those it was created to serve.

I am grateful for the leadership of the members of the Ways and Means Committee who have made weeding out waste, fraud, and abuse in our Federal welfare programs a priority.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), the chair of the Subcommittee on Work and Welfare.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Illinois.

Madam Speaker, before I yield to the gentleman from Ohio, I just have to say that it is reckless to say on this floor that someone has stolen anything when they have never been criminally charged for anything. That is very, very bad for any Member of Congress to say that to a regular, everyday American who has never been charged with anything. Democrats should be ashamed.

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Carey).

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bean).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Tenney).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Miller).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, waste, fraud, and abuse have no place in our government and certainly no place in programs meant to provide critical assistance to our Nation's most vulnerable.

The Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF Act is a targeted and timely piece of legislation that protects the American taxpayers' hard- earned money and ensures that resources get to families who are truly in need of our help.

I appreciate my Ways and Means Committee colleagues for the time, attention, and work that they have contributed to this reform effort, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 8872, the Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF Act.

Let me remind us of one of the biggest TANF fraud scandals of all time. Several years ago, former NFL quarterback Brett Favre conspired with Mississippi State officials to steal millions of taxpayer dollars meant for the State's poorest families. He stole this money to build a new volleyball court for his daughter's college.

Why did this happen? It was because under current law, the Federal Government has no authority to conduct oversight into how States spend their TANF block grant funds, which makes up roughly 80 percent of TANF spending.

That is where the biggest oversight gap exists, and this bill before us does nothing about it. Instead, it would require States to only report calculations about over- and underpayments but doesn't investigate fraud itself. By doing this, though, it empowers the administration to use these calculations to justify withholding TANF funds from certain States.

This selective process would only apply to less than 15 percent of total TANF funding. This completely ignores the 80 percent of TANF spending where the fraud is actually occurring. When Republicans brought this bill before the Ways and Means Committee, I offered an amendment to insert into the bill the bill that I had introduced with Congressman Danny Davis, the TANF State Expenditure Integrity Act.

Our bill would finally allow Federal oversight of TANF block grant funding and require States that intentionally misuse TANF funds to direct an equivalent amount toward legitimate assistance for families. Simply put, our bill would actually go after the type of fraud that Republicans claim that they care about.

If my Republican colleagues were truly interested in preventing waste, fraud, and abuse, they would have welcomed my amendment. Instead, they blocked it, but this is no surprise. Their record on fraud speaks for itself.

Donald Trump publicly defended Brett Favre and actually canceled the modest penalty President Biden was able to impose on Mississippi. He is letting everyone off the hook for this blatant fraud, and Republicans in Congress haven't said a word about it.

Not only that. Last Congress, Republicans held a hearing on TANF fraud where they actually apologized to Brett Favre. It was embarrassing, and it was shameful.

For this reason, at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill back to committee. If House rules would have permitted, I would have offered the motion with an important amendment to this bill.

My amendment would remove H.R. 8872's provisions empowering President Trump's continued attacks on struggling families and replace them with provisions that actually fight fraud, and that includes my TANF State Expenditure Integrity Act.

My motion to recommit would also address one of the most brazen acts of public corruption in American history: Trump's $1.8 billion slush fund and his sham settlement.

Madam Speaker, I want to emphasize what happened here. The President of the United States sued his own government and got a settlement allowing him to direct $1.8 billion of taxpayer dollars to political allies and January 6 rioters, the violent criminals who assaulted police officers and attacked our democracy.

After receiving overwhelming bipartisan backlash, the Trump administration is now claiming that it won't move forward with the fund. However, a statement is not law. If the administration truly intends to abandon this corrupt scheme, it should have no objection to Congress permanently prohibiting it.

Even that is only part of the story, because no such settlement and statement has been made regarding plans to withdraw the most egregious, self-serving part of this settlement: the provision granting President Trump, his family, and his businesses total immunity from all government audits and investigations before the DOJ, IRS, or any other government agency or department.

While the administration has retreated from its plan to reward Trump's allies with taxpayer dollars, it is charging ahead with giving Trump, his kids, and his companies lifetime immunity from IRS audits and tax prosecution.

Madam Speaker, my motion to recommit would invalidate in Federal law the entire settlement agreement, including the slush fund and the immunity provision, and it would forever prohibit any similar corrupt fund in the future.

I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record immediately prior to the vote on the motion to recommit.

Madam Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for the motion to recommit.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF Act.

TANF was created with a clear purpose, and I think it is important to remember this: To help families move from welfare to work, promote self-sufficiency, and support low-income parents and children. That mission is undermined when taxpayer dollars are not properly protected.

When Federal welfare funds are vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse, the consequences are real. States face weaker incentives to ensure dollars are spent appropriately. Taxpayers lose confidence in the program and, most importantly, families who truly need assistance lose out because resources are not preserved for them.

As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Work and Welfare, I have worked for years to identify and stop the TANF fraud in the program.

Chairman Jason Smith and I sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office in 2023 requesting information on TANF's program accountability measures.

In response, the GAO issued five reports in 2025 identifying that TANF lacks numerous oversight and financial guardrails expected in public assistance programs. More specifically, the GAO identified 37 States with 162 TANF audit findings. Many of these findings were deemed severe, and the problems repeated over multiple years.

They also found that States are sitting on nearly $8 billion in unspent TANF funds. That is $8 billion of taxpayer money, which has doubled since 2015.

Finally, the GAO recommended that HHS be provided with authority to require States to measure and report improper payments.

This bill that we are debating here today will address many of these findings.

First, it finally would require improper payments reporting in TANF.

Second, it puts in place spending timelines so States aren't sitting on large reserves of funds that aren't making their way to families. This will ensure that States do not tap into those unused funds for needy families when there are State budget shortfalls, which happens way too often.

Lastly, the bill includes a new Federal eligibility guideline and targeting to make sure funds are going to families under 200 percent of the poverty line.

If Congress is going to provide billions of dollars each year for TANF, we have a responsibility and obligation as elected leaders to ensure that dollars are helping the families experiencing genuine financial hardship.

The Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF Act will reduce fraud, restore accountability, and help preserve TANF benefits for families who truly need them.

We should all be able to agree that welfare funds should go to families who need help and not to fraudsters, wasteful spending, or people or programs that can provide for themselves without Federal assistance.

In closing, I urge my colleagues to support-- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.

In closing, I urge my colleagues to support and help taxpayers by voting for the Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF Act.

Madam Speaker, I thank our chairman for yielding.

Taking care of our most vulnerable citizens is what a civilized society does, and it is why Congress created TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. TANF is just that, temporary assistance for the most needy among us.

Like other safety net programs, Madam Speaker, we partner with the States. It is the most efficient way to deliver care.

My question for this body is, should we ever have to worry about the States using TANF dollars for any program other than TANF?

You wouldn't think we would have to worry about that at all, but, Madam Speaker, the report from the GAO, our Government Accountability Office, is in. It seems we do have to worry about States using TANF dollars for other than TANF recipients.

The report is in. They have used it for education programs and college scholarships. They have built roads and enhanced their State transportation systems. The crown gem offender, Madam Speaker, is a State, which will remain nameless today, that has built a sports stadium with TANF dollars. It is not what TANF was intended to do,

nor is it the creative, cooperative partnership that was intended by working with the States. It is time Congress says: Enough.

That is why I have sponsored a bill with Claudia Tenney from the great State of New York to create TANF dollars as a general revenue targeted specifically to the neediest among us and not as a revenue slush fund for these States. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this bill, H.R. 8872, the Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF Act, which includes many reforms, but this one right here, States, we have to trust them with the money given.

Madam Speaker, I remind everybody in this room that every TANF family is different, but the typical TANF family is a single mom. She has 2.1 kids. She is working 1.2 jobs. She drives a car that is 16 years old. The back window is taped up. Maybe there is a spare tire that she can't change because diapers elevate higher than car repairs. She is the one we need to make these reforms for.

I urge my colleagues to join me, to join everybody, in voting ``yes'' for TANF reform so that we can help the neediest among us.