Treasury intercepts nearly $99M in federal payments to deceased individuals under Trump fraud order ⁠76%

By Kristen Altus⁠94%

7/21/2026, 12:20:47 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 18 faulty reasoning types, including Anchoring Bias, Framing Effect, and Optimism Bias, with Politically Right Leaning Bias as the most egregious example at 23.6% saturation with 99 hits. Analysis detected 607 faulty-reasoning hits from 420 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 67.9% and a BS Rank of ⁠76% (5,286 of 21,887 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 75.90% of the article peer group.

The U.S. 
Department of the Treasury has prevented nearly $99 million in federal payments from being disbursed to deceased individuals using a new verification system deployed under President Donald Trump's executive order targeting government fraud, waste and abuse. 
Following Executive Order 14249, "Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse," the Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service implemented a verification process that reviewed more than 885 million payments totaling approximately $2.77 trillion. 
That screening flagged more than 4,900 payments totaling nearly $99 million that were associated with deceased individuals, returning the payments to the originating federal agencies for review before any funds were disbursed. 
BESSENT CREDITS TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICIES WITH HELPING RETURN JOBS TO AMERICANS AS WAGE GAINS RESUME 
"So far, we've saved about $100 million, payments that didn't go to deceased people… We think that there's up to $350 million that we can stop before the end of this year," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on "Mornings with Maria" Tuesday. 
"The [Government Accountability Office] estimates that… this number might be up to $500 billion, which is about 1.66% of GDP. 
So that could go a long way towards paying down the debt, providing more services, and this is just the start." 
"In the Biden administration, HHS got rid of about 50 or 60 of the people who were charged with monitoring fraud. 
And, Maria, what's important here is that we are stopping the money from going out. 
So once the money gets out, trying to retrieve it, it's very, very difficult. 
So stopping it at the source here is our goal," he continued. 
The initiative relies on permanent access to the Social Security Administration's Full Death Master File, access that was initially granted on a temporary three-year basis in 2021 through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, according to a Treasury press release. 
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE 
Following initial projections estimating $330 million in net benefits between 2024 and 2026, Congress made the verification authority permanent through the "Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act," which President Trump signed into law in February. 
"This new safeguard addresses a longstanding vulnerability and helps ensure every dollar the federal government spends reaches its intended recipient," Bessent also said in the press release. 
"Treasury will continue efforts to modernize the federal payment system, strengthen safeguards against fraud and improper payments, and protect taxpayer dollars." 
READ MORE FROM FOX BUSINESS 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 7.7%FoxBusiness: 4.4%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 18.1%Kristen Altus: 3.9%FoxBusiness: 3.4%Anchoring Bias18.1%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 6.1%FoxBusiness: 4.1%Availability Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 1.5%FoxBusiness: 1.1%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.8%FoxBusiness: 0.7%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 10.0%Kristen Altus: 5.1%FoxBusiness: 3.7%Overconfidence Bias10.0%This article: 17.1%Kristen Altus: 17.1%FoxBusiness: 12.9%Framing Effect17.1%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 2.2%FoxBusiness: 1.5%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 2.9%Kristen Altus: 1.4%FoxBusiness: 1.1%Status Quo Bias2.9%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.3%FoxBusiness: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 15.0%Kristen Altus: 12.6%FoxBusiness: 8.8%Optimism Bias15.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 2.9%FoxBusiness: 2.0%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 5.0%Kristen Altus: 9.3%FoxBusiness: 7.9%Negativity Bias5.0%This article: 5.0%Kristen Altus: 6.4%FoxBusiness: 4.5%Self-Serving Bias5.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 1.1%FoxBusiness: 0.9%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.3%FoxBusiness: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 2.9%FoxBusiness: 1.7%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 1.1%FoxBusiness: 0.8%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 6.4%Kristen Altus: 4.2%FoxBusiness: 3.8%Halo Effect6.4%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.3%FoxBusiness: 0.1%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.1%FoxBusiness: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 2.4%FoxBusiness: 2.3%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 3.6%Kristen Altus: 0.4%FoxBusiness: 0.4%Primacy Effect3.6%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.3%FoxBusiness: 0.1%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 1.0%FoxBusiness: 0.8%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 1.1%FoxBusiness: 0.4%Straw Man0.0%This article: 4.8%Kristen Altus: 8.1%FoxBusiness: 7.2%Appeal to Authority4.8%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 2.9%FoxBusiness: 1.6%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 2.2%FoxBusiness: 1.2%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.2%FoxBusiness: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 12.3%FoxBusiness: 6.3%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.8%FoxBusiness: 0.8%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 2.3%FoxBusiness: 1.2%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 5.0%Kristen Altus: 8.3%FoxBusiness: 6.1%Appeal to Emotion5.0%This article: 2.9%Kristen Altus: 2.0%FoxBusiness: 1.2%Begging the Question2.9%This article: 5.0%Kristen Altus: 5.5%FoxBusiness: 4.4%Post Hoc (False Cause)5.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.3%FoxBusiness: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.7%FoxBusiness: 0.4%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.3%FoxBusiness: 0.1%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.6%FoxBusiness: 0.3%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 3.3%Kristen Altus: 5.9%FoxBusiness: 2.4%Anecdotal3.3%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.2%FoxBusiness: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 6.4%Kristen Altus: 2.4%FoxBusiness: 1.9%Ambiguity (Equivocation)6.4%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.0%FoxBusiness: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.1%FoxBusiness: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.1%FoxBusiness: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.7%FoxBusiness: 0.3%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.5%FoxBusiness: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 1.9%FoxBusiness: 1.8%Unattributed Quote0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 1.4%FoxBusiness: 1.4%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 6.0%FoxBusiness: 4.1%Biased Writer Voice0.0%This article: 3.6%Kristen Altus: 1.5%FoxBusiness: 1.7%Indoctrination3.6%This article: 0.0%Kristen Altus: 0.1%FoxBusiness: 0.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 23.6%Kristen Altus: 4.4%FoxBusiness: 2.1%Politically Right Leaning Bias23.6%This article: 6.9%Kristen Altus: 4.1%FoxBusiness: 4.4%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…6.9%

420 words analyzed.

Speakers

3speakers85%attributed speech65writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 14 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 0.0% coverageDepartment of the Treasury • 36 words • 0.0% coverageDepartment of the Treasury • 40 words • 0.0% coverageDepartment of the Treasury • 32 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 100.0% coverageScott Bessent • 42 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 0.0% coverageScott Bessent • 21 words • 0.0% coverageScott Bessent • 21 words • 100.0% coverageScott Bessent • 15 words • 100.0% coverageScott Bessent • 14 words • 0.0% coverageScott Bessent • 12 words • 0.0% coverageDepartment of the Treasury • 38 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 100.0% coverageCongress • 36 words • 100.0% coverageScott Bessent • 27 words • 0.0% coverageDepartment of the Treasury • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 100.0% coverage
Selected voice

Scott Bessent

100%flagged-word coverage
152 attributed words43% of attributed speech75% writer coverage
0%22.5%45.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -44.6 ptsWriter: 44.6%Scott Bessent: 0.0%0.0%Politically Right Leaning +41.4 ptsWriter: 0.0%Scott Bessent: 41.4%41.4%Indoctrination+9.9 ptsWriter: 0.0%Scott Bessent: 9.9%9.9%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

Loading…
Loading…
Loading…

Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.