Two Republican House Committee leaders asked the Justice Department for help in recovering pension plan overpayments, following a high-profile overpayment that erroneously counted dead retirees in the plan.
Through the Special Financial Assistance Program, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. awarded $36 billion to the Teamsters Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund, Chicago, back in December 2022, marking the largest award in the program’s history. The pension fund had $41.8 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2023, according to the plan's most recent Form 5500 filing. Democrats passed the American Rescue Plan in 2021, which established the SFA Program to aid financially struggling multiemployer pension plans.
A November 2023 report from PBGC’s Office of Inspector General found that while the agency required the pension fund to provide a list of all plan participants and proof of a search for deceased participants, the PBGC did not cross-check that information with the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File — the source recommended by the Government Accountability Office for reducing improper payments to dead people.
Ultimately, the report found that the Teamsters plan’s SFA application included 3,479 deceased participants, which resulted in an overpayment of $127 million. The PBGC announced April 8 that the plan had returned that overpayment after the agency coordinated with the PBGC OIG, Justice Department’s civil division and the plan itself.
However, in a Feb. 20 letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Reps. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and Rick Allen, R-Ga., ask for more information on “other plans that received similar improper payments.” Walberg chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee, while Allen chairs the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee.
The lawmakers’ letter notes that another plan, the Graphic Communications National Pension Fund, Carol Stream, Ill., also agreed to repay $8 million — an overpayment discovered via another PBGC OIG report, which found the pension fund erroneously included 371 dead participants, according to a DOJ news release. The plan had $1.52 billion in assets as of April 30, 2024, according to its most recent Form 5500 filing.
In March, former PBGC Director Gordon Hartogensis testified before the House, telling lawmakers that the agency has now revised its application review process to require an independent death audit for all prospective and pending SFA applications.
However, Hartogensis said 67 plans, including the Teamsters plan, received SFA funding before that new review process was put in place, and the PBGC is working to find any additional overpayments and begin the process of repayment.
“PBGC reports that, as of February 7, 2025, about 30 of these 60 plans have voluntarily repaid nearly $30 million,” the lawmakers wrote. “Therefore, no repayments have been made from the other 30 plans. We are concerned that these other plans have not restored the improper payments.”
When asked for comment, the PBGC said in an email to refer to its data tracking "SFA Repaid-Census Adjustments." The data shows that 38 plans, including the Teamsters plan, have made SFA repayments as of Feb. 21.
“With the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump and your confirmation as Attorney General, we have an opportunity to address these improper payments and to secure repayments for taxpayers,” the lawmakers wrote to Bondi. “We request that you ensure DOJ is taking timely and meaningful action to recover improper payments.”
