Stop payments to dead people by sharing death records better

What it does

The bill makes agencies share death records. This stops the government from paying dead people. The Social Security Administration must share death data with 'Do Not Pay.' That system catches wrong payments. Agencies must agree to share costs. The bill raises the standard for marking someone as dead. It requires 'clear and convincing evidence.' Agencies must tell people if they are wrongly marked as dead.

Who it affects

People benefit because the government wastes less money on dead people. The government stops trying to collect that money from families. Living people are protected from being wrongly marked as dead. This protects their benefits and credit.

One thing to notice

The bill sets a higher standard for marking someone as dead. This may slow death records but protects living people from errors.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

5 cosponsors: 3 Democrats, 2 Republicans.

• Jan 28, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Jan 28, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs”
• Jul 30, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably”
• Sep 19, 2025 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR…”
• Jan 12, 2026 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H634)”
• Jan 12, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Smith (MO) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
• Feb 3, 2026 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
• Feb 10, 2026 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-77”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 2 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $145,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 4 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 0% of bills with any report.

John Kennedy, who sponsored the bill, received $113,800 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• National Potato Council — $145,000 in 2 reports

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• Do Not Pay — A federal database that finds wrong payments to people who should not get them
• clear and convincing evidence — Strong proof that something is true, a higher standard than normal proof
• Social Security Administration — The federal agency that runs Social Security and keeps death records
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.