A new report from the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Office of Inspector General reveals a shocking truth: nearly $5 million in taxpayer dollars from the Lifeline program went to more than 100,000 dead people. Lifeline, designed to help low-income Americans afford phone and internet service, spends roughly $1 billion annually — but despite promises of oversight, waste and fraud continue unchecked.

After a similar 2017 report prompted “death checks” in the enrollment process, the fact that the problem persists shows that the FCC has failed to protect taxpayers. Now, Chairman Brendan Carr says the commission will vote in February on proposals to reform the program — but Americans shouldn’t have to wait for another bureaucratic fix to stop their money from going to the deceased.

The FCC first tried to address the problem after a 2017 OIG report revealed widespread enrollments of deceased individuals. The agency, along with the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), introduced death checks in the Lifeline enrollment process — but the measures have proven inadequate. Despite Lifeline’s stated goal of helping low-income Americans, the program remains plagued by oversight failures, leaving taxpayers footing the bill for money that should never have been spent.

The latest OIG report shows that state-level loopholes only make the problem worse. California, Oregon, and Texas opted out of USAC’s verification process and were allowed to manage their own eligibility checks.

Predictably, California alone accounted for nearly 81% of the fraud uncovered. These glaring gaps highlight how inconsistent oversight enables waste and abuse, proving that without stronger accountability, programs like Lifeline will continue to drain taxpayers’ pockets.

Carr revoked California’s opt-out status in November after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that made it impossible for California to comply with federal program integrity obligations, including by prohibiting California from collecting Social Security numbers (SSN) and from sharing data with the federal government.

Carr said the upcoming reform proposals aim to strengthen program integrity, prevent fraud, and ensure that taxpayer dollars reach only low-income Americans who are truly eligible for Lifeline. According to Carr, the latest OIG report shows that Lifeline providers have been subsidized to provide phone or internet service to more than 116,000 deceased individuals, with California accounting for a disproportionate share of the fraud.

Carr also warned that the program’s current rules do not sufficiently prevent federal dollars from going to ineligible recipients, including non-citizens fraudulently using Social Security numbers. He noted that the existing verification process has failed to stop duplicative subscriptions and other abuses, leaving taxpayers on the hook for millions in wasted funds.

Lifeline applicants must provide on their application form their full name, residential address, whether they live at the residential address on a temporary or permanent basis, billing address; date of birth, and either the last four digits of their Social Security number (SSN) or tribal identification number. This is designed to limit the program to U.S. citizens and qualified persons that have lawfully valid SSNs.

Carr noted, however, a large increase in the number of SSNs illegally obtained or assigned in recent years, with more than 2 million non-citizens illegally assigned SSNs in 2024 alone.

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which the full commission will vote on during the Feb. 18 open meeting, would implement the following regulations:

• Ensure that Lifeline support is used to benefit only legal, living, and eligible Americans consistent with section 254 of the Communications Act of 1996, through enhanced requirements to ensure that program participants are truly eligible for Lifeline discounts
• Improve program integrity and efficiency, including reforms applicable to the states that have been permitted to opt out of using the National Lifeline Accountability Database 
• Promote more principled service provider conduct and ensure that service providers that participate in the Lifeline program comply with all rules
• Streamline Lifeline program rules and mimimizing stakeholder confusion.

Any effort to reduce taxpayer waste is a step in the right direction. The money put into the Lifeline program should be used to close the digital divide, not be placed into the pockets of grifters.

Johnny Kampis is director of telecom policy for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.