HR 10326: PROOF Act

HR 10326 in plain English: The PROOF Act requires states to share information with the Department of Justice to help investigate and prosecute fraud in certain federally funded programs, including Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, and coronavirus relief funds. Federal agencies may only use the shared information for fraud-related law enforcement and cannot disclose it for other purposes. DOJ must report to Congress annually on how the information is used.

Stated purpose

The PROOF Act aims to help federal law enforcement detect, investigate, and prosecute fraud in certain federally funded programs by requiring states to share relevant information with the Department of Justice upon request, while protecting individual privacy.

Key points

• Requires states to provide information to DOJ for investigating fraud in Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, and coronavirus relief programs.
• Allows DOJ to identify additional federally funded programs it considers vulnerable to fraud.
• Prohibits federal agencies from using collected information for any non-law-enforcement or commercial purpose.
• Requires DOJ to report annually to Congress on information requests, programs targeted, investigations opened, and convictions secured.

Arguments supporters make

• Fraud in programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and COVID relief funds costs taxpayers billions, and giving DOJ a clear path to state records makes it easier to catch and punish bad actors.
• The bill includes strong privacy safeguards — data must be encrypted, used only for fraud enforcement, and destroyed after proceedings end — so protecting individuals and fighting fraud are not mutually exclusive.
• Annual reporting to Congress creates accountability by tracking how often the authority is used and whether it actually leads to investigations and convictions.

Arguments opponents make

• Giving the federal government broad authority to demand personal records from states — including demographic information determined by the Attorney General — could be used to target vulnerable populations beyond genuine fraud cases.
• The bill's open-ended provision letting the Attorney General designate any state program as 'vulnerable to fraud' gives the executive branch wide, potentially unchecked power to expand its reach into state data.
• Privacy law compliance and data destruction requirements depend on federal agencies following the rules; there is no independent enforcement mechanism if those safeguards are ignored or misapplied.

Tradeoffs

Stronger federal tools to fight fraud in public programs come at the cost of broader federal access to sensitive personal data held by states, creating tension between accountability for government spending and the privacy rights of program participants.

Current status in Congress: Passed House.

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