Stopping Fraudulent Payments Act

What this does

This bill lets federal agencies pause, condition, or split a payment before it is certified when an official finds the payment carries an elevated risk of fraud or an improper loss, based on a documented fraud-risk indicator. It adds a new section 3337 to title 31 of the U.S. Code. It also lets the Treasury order a certified payment voucher returned within 2 days when the Do Not Pay system flags the payment. A pause must be based on an objective, documented indicator, applied only to the risky portion, and held for the minimum time needed to verify eligibility. Routine, historically consistent portions of a payment are allowed to proceed while only the anomalous portion is held. The agency must notify the payee within 2 days, state the reason, and give the payee a process to contest it. The agency must issue the payment within 30 days of the pause decision, and within 7 days after a payee contest, once it determines the payment is not high-risk. Federal officers are shielded from personal liability for good-faith actions under the section, and a pause does not count as a final determination of eligibility or wrongdoing. Agencies may waive the section case-by-case when a law enforcement authority says it would jeopardize an active investigation. The Treasury must issue implementing regulations within 180 days and report to Congress on the results within 18 months and annually after. The amendments take effect one year after enactment.