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The House of Representatives has unanimously passed a bill aimed at recovering billions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment insurance payments issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a federal task force to track down unspent funds and extending the statute of limitations for prosecutions.

The COVID Unemployment Fraud in Banks Act, introduced by Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas), would establish a dedicated task force to work with state agencies and financial institutions to reclaim money sitting on unused prepaid debit cards or frozen in accounts — funds that rightfully belong to American taxpayers.

This legislation comes as the Department of Labor’s inspector general has identified nearly $1 billion in unspent COVID-era UI funds still held by banks due to suspected fraud. With total pandemic UI expenditures reaching about $900 billion, estimates of improper payments have ranged from $45 billion to over $78 billion in a single year, highlighting the massive scale of potential waste and abuse.

The bill, co-sponsored by Democrats and Republicans, addresses the urgent reality that the statute of limitations for many of these cases is already expiring. By giving law enforcement more time and creating a coordinated federal effort, lawmakers hope to recover as much as possible before the money becomes even harder to trace.

For taxpayers who funded these programs during the crisis, the measure offers a long-overdue push for accountability. As the bill moves to the Senate, it represents a rare bipartisan effort to close the book on one of the largest fraud challenges in recent U.S. history — and ensure that dollars meant for those in need don’t disappear into the pockets of fraudsters.