HR 8873 United States House · 119th Congress

Recover COVID Unemployment Fraud in Banks Act

This bill creates a task force to recover unemployment benefits that were fraudulently issued and are currently held by banks or state agencies. The task force will coordinate with federal and state officials to develop guidelines for identifying these improper payments and establishing a process to return the funds to the government. Additionally, the legislation extends the time limit for prosecuting fraud related to pandemic unemployment benefits from the standard period to ten years after the violation occurred. These changes aim to ensure that misused funds are reclaimed and that authorities have sufficient time to pursue legal action against those who committed fraud during the pandemic.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

May 2026

Committee Review

Jul 2026

House Passage

Jun 2026

Senate Passage

President

Introduced May 19, 2026 Last action Jul 13, 2026

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What changed between versions

Introduced in House → Engrossed in House · 3 edits · Jun 29, 2026

MINOR

The engrossed version of HR 8873 makes two minor clarifying edits to the introduced version. First, it specifies 'financial institutions' rather than just 'institutions' in a reference to where improper payments are held. Second, it adds 'pandemic unemployment' before 'assistance' in the definition of Federal pandemic unemployment compensation. The remaining changes are formatting (blank lines) typical of the engrossment process.

DEFINITION

In section 2(b)(2)(D), the phrase 'held by institutions and agencies' was changed to 'held by financial institutions and agencies,' clarifying that the reference is specifically to financial institutions rather than any type of institution.

In section 2(e)(1)(A), the definition of Federal pandemic unemployment compensation was changed from 'assistance under section 2102(b) of the CARES Act' to 'pandemic unemployment assistance under section 2102(b) of the CARES Act,' aligning the language with the statutory term used in that provision.

TECHNICAL

An explicit subsection heading '(a) Pandemic unemployment assistance' was added in section 3, clarifying which CARES Act program the statute of limitations extension applies to in that subsection.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jul 13, 2026

Committee

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

upper

Jun 29, 2026

Introduced

On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H4269-4270)

lower

Jun 29, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H4269-4270)

lower

Jun 29, 2026

Introduced

Mr. Smith (MO) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.

lower

May 29, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-671.

lower

May 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

lower

May 19, 2026

Committee

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

lower

May 19, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

1 primary · 2 co-sponsors