Senate Republicans have introduced a sweeping anti-fraud package aimed at combating welfare abuse, with the centerpiece legislation named after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The Welfare Abuse and Laundering Zillions (WALZ) Act requires federal payments to be made as reimbursements to states only after a service is proven to have been provided.

Legislation Details

The package, led by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, includes several bills targeting welfare fraud, COVID fraud, and foreign remittance abuse. The legislation is projected to save taxpayers roughly $240 billion. One of the bills, the Returning Unspent COVID Funds Act, would claw back over $65 billion in federally-disbursed COVID funds to avoid future abuse.

Sen. Ernst stated, “While hardworking Americans are struggling to make ends meet, fraudsters are getting away with ripping off $1.4 billion of taxpayer money every single day. Government grift and graft is endless, but the public’s patience isn’t and neither is mine.”

Supporting Legislation

Other bills in the package include the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act, which instructs inspectors general to pay out sums to federal employees who uncover fraud or waste, and the No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act, which would instruct the State Department to implement a process to discourage NGOs and foreign nations from financially supporting the Taliban.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.