Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
The order directs the Department of the Treasury to tighten pre-payment fraud screening across all federal disbursements, consolidate financial systems, and claw back disbursing authority from hundreds of agency-level payment offices — covering roughly $6 trillion in annual federal payments.
Establishes a sweeping overhaul of how federal payments flow, aiming to cut what the Government Accountability Office estimates is $233–$521 billion in annual federal losses to fraud and improper payments.
What this order does
What it orders
The order directs the Department of the Treasury to build and enforce pre-certification screening — verifying payee identity, fund availability, account validity, and contract references — before any federal disbursement is made. It requires all federal agencies to update their Privacy Act records notices to allow data sharing with Treasury for fraud detection, and directs Treasury and OMB to issue new guidance tightening payment-verification standards across the government. Agency certifying officers become responsible for checking vouchers against these standards before certifying payment.
It also directs OMB to issue guidance consolidating agency core financial systems into Treasury-approved platforms, and requires Treasury to assess and largely revoke the delegated disbursing authority held by Non-Treasury Disbursing Offices — standalone agency payment units currently handling roughly $1.5 trillion annually — centralizing those functions back under Treasury's Chief Disbursing Officer. Classified payments and certain statutory carve-outs are explicitly exempted from consolidation.
Who it affects
All executive branch federal agencies that disburse or certify federal payments, especially the roughly 180 agency-level Non-Treasury Disbursing Offices. Indirectly, any individual, business, or organization that receives federal benefits, grants, loans, or vendor payments is affected by the new verification requirements.
Why it matters
Millions of federal payment recipients — from Social Security beneficiaries to government contractors — could face additional verification steps before payments are approved. Agencies operating their own payment systems must transfer control to Treasury, affecting their staffing, internal systems, and payment timelines.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
Treasury updates screening guidance and systems; agencies update Privacy Act notices within 90 days and submit compliance plans to OMB within the same window. Treasury separately assesses NTDO delegations within 30 days and begins revoking them. OMB issues financial-system consolidation guidance within 180 days. Treasury submits a progress report to the President within 180 days. Payments that fail pre-certification screening are returned to the originating agency for reconciliation rather than automatically blocked, and Treasury must maintain an exemption-request process for specific payment categories.
Actions and deadlines
- Secretary of the Treasury assesses and issues notices to revoke delegated NTDO disbursing authority as appropriate
- Agency heads review and modify Privacy Act system of records notices to add a routine use allowing Treasury access for fraud prevention
- All agency heads submit compliance plans to the OMB Director detailing transition and verification strategies
- OMB Director issues guidance directing CFO Act agencies to consolidate core financial systems
- OMB Director issues guidance directing non-CFO Act agencies to consolidate financial management services under a Treasury-approved single provider
- Secretary of the Treasury submits an implementation progress report to the President
- Secretary of the Treasury develops a plan to centralize all payments previously disbursed by NTDOs
- Secretary of the Treasury establishes a transition plan for agencies operating as NTDOs, including staffing and system integration steps