U.S. Reps. Jason Smith (R-MO) and Darin LaHood (R-IL) are calling on the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds.
The legislators said this program lacks guardrails to ensure that funds are used to help people rejoin the workforce. In a letter to the GAO, cited a recent hearing by the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare that found that some non-direct assistance funds are diverted away from the program’s core purposes.
“Recently, concerns have emerged that TANF non-assistance funds, which make up about 78 percent of combined federal and state spending, lack guardrails and are not focused on helping people transition from welfare to work,” Smith and LaHood wrote to the GAO. “On July 12, 2023, the House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Work and Welfare, held a hearing on: ‘Where is all the Welfare Money Going? Reclaiming TANF Non-Assistance Dollars to Lift Americans Out of Poverty.’ At this hearing, Members heard from witnesses about problems in current law that open the door for diversion of funds away from TANF’s core purposes and creates an environment ripe for waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Smith and LaHood request that GAO focus the investigation on four specific areas — state budgeting and expenditure reporting practices; populations served and performance metrics; federal and state audits; and transfers and direct spending.
The request follows a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in June seeking information on steps the Biden Administration have taken to address reports of fraud and misuse of funds in the program.