Fraud Prevention and Accountability Act
Fraud Prevention and Accountability Act This bill (1) assigns financial integrity, improper payment prevention, and spending transparency functions to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) within the Department of the Treasury; (2) establishes an Office of the Inspector General for Fraud, Accountability, and Recovery (OIGFAR) within Treasury; and (3) requires Treasury to enter into data sharing agreements with other federal agencies and allowable private entities to prevent fraud and improper payments. Functions assigned to BFS by the bill include administering the Do Not Pay system (which provides federal agencies and federally funded state-administered programs the ability to verify recipient identity and eligibility before making an award or issuing a payment); maintaining a voluntary governmentwide program to provide data sharing and analysis to federal agencies and to state, local, or tribal governments responsible for administering a federally funded program in order to detect fraud and prevent improper payments that result in financial loss; and supporting OIGFAR by providing access to information technology and data. The duties of OIGFAR include auditing and investigating the use of certain federal funds, such as funds, loans, and tax credits made available by various coronavirus response laws; any federal award of $50,000 or more; and emergency spending related to disaster relief or economic recovery. OIGFAR must ensure the expeditious reporting of suspected violations of federal criminal law to the Department of Justice. OIGFAR is authorized to provide investigative support to prosecutive and enforcement authorities to protect program integrity and prevent, detect, and prosecute fraud.
The provisions, in plain language.
Creates a new permanent Inspector General of Fraud, Accountability, and Recovery (IGFAR) — a presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed watchdog whose sole job is detecting and preventing waste, fraud, abuse, and improper payments in federal covered funds, working in coordination with OMB and the Treasury Department.
Changes the OMB Director's relationship with the Treasury Secretary on payment-integrity work from 'in consultation with' to 'in coordination with,' making their collaboration a binding requirement rather than an advisory one.
Requires federal agencies to report their spending data to the government's public transparency database — changing the law from 'may report' to 'shall report,' so participation is now mandatory rather than optional.
By March 1, 2029, OMB must issue a directive to every federal agency that disburses covered funds, requiring each agency to identify and report within 60 days how it could use Treasury's data-analytics systems to catch fraud and improper payments.
Grants Treasury expanded statutory authority to support the new IGFAR function; requires OMB and Treasury to update all related regulations, guidance, and policy documents within 270 days of enactment.
On December 31, 2028, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) — the oversight body created under the CARES Act — is dissolved and all its assets, contracts, data, staff, and unspent funds are transferred to the new IGFAR office, which takes over its mission on a permanent basis.
Until a permanent IGFAR is Senate-confirmed, the PRAC Chairperson (or the PRAC Executive Director if that role is vacant) serves as acting Inspector General, providing continuity of leadership.
PRAC employees transferred to the new IGFAR office keep the same pay, benefits, and working conditions they had at the PRAC — the transition cannot be used to cut their employment terms.
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- Federal oversight and watchdog communityThe new IGFAR (provision 1) institutionalizes a permanent, dedicated fraud-detection IG with clear authority and resources, strengthening the oversight infrastructure beyond what existed under the temporary PRAC.
- PRAC employeesStaff transferred from the dissolving PRAC to the new IGFAR retain their existing pay and working conditions under provision 8, protecting them from employment-term reductions during the reorganization.
Who it burdens
- Federal agencies that disburse covered fundsAgencies must respond to an OMB directive within 60 days identifying fraud-detection opportunities (provision 4), and must now mandatorily report spending data to the federal transparency database (provision 3), both creating new compliance obligations.
- OMB and Treasury DepartmentOMB must issue a government-wide directive to all disbursing agencies by March 1, 2029 (provision 4) and update all related regulations and guidance within 270 days of enactment (provision 5), creating new administrative duties.
Who opposes it
- Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (as an institution)The PRAC is explicitly dissolved on December 31, 2028, and its authorizing statute repealed (provision 6). Its independent existence ends; it is absorbed into the new IGFAR.