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S. 269119th CongressSocial Welfare
Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act
Sponsored by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) · 5 active : 2 Republicans, 3 Democrats
Latest action: Became Public Law No: 119-77.
Where it standsBecame law7 senators score as swing votes
Became law
- Senate: passedSep 19, 2025
- House: passedJan 12, 2026
- President: Signed into lawFeb 10, 2026
Summary
, via Congress.govEnding Improper Payments to Deceased People Act
This act permanently allows the Department of the Treasury to access certain death records maintained by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to help prevent and recover improper payments (e.g., payments to deceased individuals). The act also establishes evidentiary requirements the SSA must meet before identifying an individual as deceased.
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Current law requires the SSA to share its Death Master File with the Do Not Pay system maintained by Treasury for three years. The act makes this requirement permanent. Treasury must enter into an agreement with the SSA related to Treasury's share of the cost of state death data.
The act also prohibits the SSA from recording a death in the master file unless the SSA has clear and convincing evidence that the individual should be presumed deceased. If an individual is incorrectly identified as deceased and provides the SSA with supporting documentation, the SSA may notify certain agencies that have access to the master file, including Treasury and federal or state agencies that provide or disburse federally funded benefits.
How the projections held up
Each member’s recorded vote compared with their swing projection from before the vote. A member by voting against most of their own party.
House
Passed by voice vote or unanimous consent: no individual votes recorded.
Senate
Passed by voice vote or unanimous consent: no individual votes recorded.
Committees and subjects
Committees
- Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs · SenateDischarged from · Markup by · Referred to
Subjects
- Disability assistance
- Intergovernmental relations
- Social security and elderly assistance
How the Senate breaks down
- 7Swing 70–100
- 61Middle 30–70
- 32Entrenched 0–30
Members fall into . All 100 senators have enough data to score.
Key players in the Senate
Ranked by swing score, 0–100 · swing-v2Bars show each input from 0 to 100: ideology gap, scorecard gap, . is the seat’s partisan lean, and shows how much of the input data a score has.
Similar past votes, Senate
Earlier behind swing-v3’s inputLoading similar votes
Cosponsors
5 activeShow all 5 cosponsors
- Gary C. Peters (D-MI)
- Mark R. Warner (D-VA)
- Joni Ernst (R-IA)
- Ashley Moody (R-FL)
- Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH)
How the swing score works
Ideology gapHow far a member’s DW-NOMINATE voting score sits from their party’s median in the same chamber.
Scorecard gapHow far their Heritage Action and LCV ratings stray from their party’s average, using the groups’ votes on similar bills where available.
Cross-pressureHow strongly their district or state leans toward the other party, from our own computed partisan lean.
Similar votesHow often they voted against their own party on earlier roll calls about this bill or similar ones.
Committee bonusMembers of the committees handling the bill decide whether it moves, so they get a boost.
Cosponsor checkThe sponsor and active cosponsors have already committed, so they drop toward entrenched.
