House Republicans are leaning on a federal agency that has “made no attempt to explain” overpaying $127 million to dead participants in a Teamsters’ pension plan, according to a letter exclusively obtained by The Post. House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) on Monday accused the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) of a “grave lapse in judgment” and failure to “respond in a forthright manner” to an inquiry about the overpayments.
Foxx and Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Chairman Bob Good (R-Va.) wrote that the PBGC had “made no attempt to explain how it justifies making payments beyond the amount authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) or why it is failing to take any steps to recoup those overpayments.”
The lawmakers want a full response to their inquiries by March 4 — or they say they will be forced to take “compulsory action” against the agency to obtain the information.
Foxx has also introduced a bill, the Ghost Handouts and Overpayments Stop Today (GHOST) Act, “to ensure PBGC meets its obligation to reclaim any overpayment it made” as part of the Special Financial Assistance program for retirement benefits, which received a total of $91 billion from the 2021 American Rescue Plan.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the ranking member of the upper chamber’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, also sent a letter on Monday to the PBGC demanding the agency return the $127 million in taxpayer funding for 3,479 dead participants.