The Biden administration is seeking a new congressional investigation after the agency that distributed tens of billions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan failed to prevent a $127 million donation to deceased Teamsters pension fund participants. facing.
The House Education and Labor Committee sent a letter to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on Tuesday requesting records regarding the agency's “mismanagement” and “overpayments” to union pension plans, the House Education and Labor Committee said. According to a copy of the letter obtained exclusively by The Post.
“As part of this investigation, the Committee will request documents and information regarding the disbursement of these payments by the PBGC and its plans to recover these significant taxpayer funds.” ) and Chairman of the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee. Bob Good (R-Virginia) wrote.
“Taxpayers rightly expect institutions like the PBGC to take the necessary steps to ensure that their funds are protected and spent wisely. The reckless disregard for this is an example of waste and abuse. The Committee intends to provide strong oversight of the PBGC's failures, including potential testimony before the Committee.”
Notes for November 1st An investigation by the PBGC Office of Inspector General found that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' pension fund received funds for 3,479 deceased members out of the $35.8 billion allocated from President Biden's 2021 American Rescue Plan. .
Federal auditors found that the PBGC did not consult the Social Security Administration's Full Death Master File (DMF) before distributing funds to the Teamsters' Central States Pension Fund. The Central States Pension Fund has approximately 350,000 members and is one of the largest multiemployer plans in the United States.
The agency blamed the failure on “limitations” in the accuracy of some vendors. Statement of November 2nd In response to the memo, the fund said it would not seek to recover the money because it was not paid directly to private pensions.
“Back in 2018, the PBGC's OIG instructed the PBGC that the use of DMF was essential to prevent pension-funded overpayments to deceased individuals,” Fox and Good wrote in a Jan. 16 letter. “I was doing it,” he said. “PBGC's failure to incorporate DMF is inexcusable.”
“Surprisingly, the PBGC asserted in its response to this report that this payment 'should not be subject to recovery action,'” they added. “Similarly, the Central States Pension Fund claims that it has no obligation or intention to repay these taxpayers' money. No matter how you look at it, the PBGC is using taxpayer funds in an unauthorized windfall. to the Central States Pension Fund and refuses to return these funds.
In the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on November 14th. Sean O'Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, told lawmakers at the hearing that he “assumes” the government will recover the money it misspent.
“Let's put it on record that if someone gives you something you're not entitled to, you should give it back,” O'Brien added.
Fox and Good also said, “This mismanagement calls into question the PBGC's implementation of a much larger program, the $91 billion Special Financial Assistance (SFA) program,” which the Central States He said he sent a follow-up letter to the Office of the Inspector General suggesting that he take advantage of the program. The funds were used “as a personal slush fund” to help “achieve the statutory target of remaining solvent until 2051”.
Inspector General Nicholas Novak previously told the Post that there was no clawback feature available to the PBGC as part of the American Rescue Plan, in which the Biden administration provided more than $80 billion to other multiemployer pension funds. Told.
Panel members are asking for documents and answers to questions on the issue to be returned by January 30th.
A PGBC spokesperson previously denied that PGBC had “improperly” disbursed funds into the pension scheme and that deceased members were not direct beneficiaries.
PBGC officials did not respond to requests for comment.
