Senator Hassan Continues Push to Reduce Waste, Fraud, and Abuse & Better Serve Taxpayers

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) continued her push on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to cut waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government and improve government customer service.

During a Committee hearing yesterday with nominees to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Senator Hassan shared, “The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) operates a 62-year old tax processing mainframe that no longer supports IRS’s mission to process tax documents and refunds in the timely and cost-effective way that taxpayers expect. In fact, I’ve heard from many Granite Staters who are still waiting to receive their tax refunds from 2019 and 2020, and last week I sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig urging him to swiftly address the current backlog of millions of unprocessed tax returns.”

Senator Hassan pressed the Office of Management and Budget to prioritize modernizing outdated and costly technology to better serve taxpayers.

In addition, Senator Hassan discussed her bipartisan Identifying and Eliminating Wasteful Programs Act, which would also help to strengthen government efficiency and save taxpayer dollars. Senator Hassan pressed OMB Director nominee Shalanda D. Young to “commit to continuing to work with me on this bill, and on finding ways to better identify wasteful federal spending and work to eliminate it.” Ms. Young agreed.

This morning, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously passed this bipartisan bill, and Senator Hassan will continue working to advance this bill in the Senate.

Senator Hassan is focused on working across the aisle to cut waste, fraud, and abuse. The 2020 government funding bill that was passed into law  included Senator Hassan’s Oversight.gov Authorization Act, which permanently established an online hub of information about Inspectors General and their work. The funding bill also included the Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, which Senator Hassan cosponsored, to curb federal improper payments to the deceased and save taxpayer dollars. Furthermore, in 2019, President Trump signed into law bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Hassan and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) to close a loophole in the Medicaid rebate program that results in big pharmaceutical companies overcharging taxpayers. The bipartisan legislation will save taxpayers approximately $3.1 billion over the next 10 years.

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