Sen. Joni Ernst is targeting the federal Lifeline program in new legislation

Sen Joni Ernst (R-IA) is targeting the federal Lifeline program, which subsidizes the services for low-income Americans, after California was accused of taking in $3.8 million between 2020 and 2025 to cover the costs for 94,000 dead people. The legislation, titled the “No Lifeline for Dead People Act,” would require all telecommunications carriers to use the federal government’s National Verifier system to confirm a recipient’s eligibility before enrolling them in the program. The bill would effectively eliminate the ability of states to rely on their own eligibility systems in place of the federal verification process. While California accounted for the largest share of questionable Lifeline enrollments, the Federal Communications Commission report also found alleged fraud beyond “blue states.” Significant verification gaps were also identified in Republican-led Texas, which was permitted to opt out of the federal National Verifier in favor of a state-managed platform. Of the 116,808 deceased individuals in opt-out states, roughly two-thirds (77,446) died after they were enrolled, according to the report.