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Congress·In Committee·S. 3652

Senator Cotton Proposes Bill to Strip Citizenship and Increase Jail Time for Welfare Fraud

Welfare Fraud Deterrence and Recovery Act of 2026

2 months ago·View on Congress.gov

Legislative Progress

Senate
House
President
Law

Key Points

  • The bill creates a special team at the Department of Justice to find and sue people who lie to get government help, like food stamps or child care money.
  • People caught committing welfare fraud could face up to 15 years in prison. If they stole more than $100,000, they would have to serve at least 5 years.
  • Naturalized citizens—people born in other countries who became U.S. citizens—would automatically lose their citizenship and be deported if convicted of welfare fraud.
  • Noncitizens who are convicted of fraud would be deported quickly and blocked from coming back to the U.S. for at least 20 years.
  • States would be required to share their records with federal investigators. If a state refuses to help, the federal government could take away 10% of that state's welfare money.
  • To help catch scammers, the government would pay 'whistleblowers' who report fraud. These people could get a reward worth 15% to 30% of the money the government gets back.
Criminal JusticeImmigrationEconomy Finance

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions
Jan 15, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Jan 15, 2026

Introduced in Senate

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Welfare Fraud Deterrence and Recovery Act of 2026

Bill NumberS 3652
Congress119th Congress
ChamberSenate
Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Sponsor

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.