The record

LegislationLegislation· Jul 2026
HR 8873 Passed House — in Senate

Sponsored by Beth Van Duyne (R)

Recover COVID Unemployment Fraud in Banks Act

Extends statute of limitations to 10 years for pandemic unemployment fraud prosecutions and creates a task force to recover fraudulent payments.

Tradeoff

Gives federal prosecutors and civil enforcers a longer window to pursue COVID unemployment fraud cases. Creates a federal task force to work with states and banks to locate and recover fraudulent payments held in financial institutions.

What's in it

See official bill text

Reduces the deficit by $5 million over 2026-2031 through recovery of fraudulent COVID unemployment payments.

The $6 million in spending over 2026-2031 covers the federal cost to establish and run a recovery task force and coordination office, while the actual recovery of fraudulent payments (estimated at $5 million net reduction in the deficit) comes from states and financial institutions returning already-frozen funds to the Treasury.

H.R. 8873, Recover COVID Unemployment Fraud in Banks Act · Jun 2026

Passed the House by on June 29, 2026 — sitting in the Senate.

  1. House

    Introduced

    (May 19, 2026)

  2. House

    Committee on Ways and Means(May 19, 2026)

  3. House

    The Committee on Ways and Means voted to send it to the floor

    Reported 41 - 0(May 21, 2026)

    Committee report H. Rept. 119-671.

  4. House

    Passage of the bill

    Passed by (Jun 29, 2026)

    No individual votes were recorded.

  5. Senate

    Received from the House

    on Finance(Jul 13, 2026)