Presidential memorandum

MEMORANDUM FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERALTHE SECRETARY OF LABORTHE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICESTHE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITYTHE COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITYTHE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE SOCIAL SECURITYADMINISTRATION

SUBJECT: Preventing Illegal Aliens from Obtaining Social Security Act Benefits

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby direct:

Section 1. Responsibility for Determining Eligibility for Public Benefits. (a) As set forth in Executive Order 14218 of February 19, 2025 (Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders), both Federal law (title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193)) and principles of sound administration demand that taxpayer-funded benefits be provided only to eligible persons and not encourage or reward illegal immigration to the United States. This interest is especially compelling with respect to Social Security Act benefits, which demand strict policing of fraud, waste, and abuse to ensure future eligible individuals receive the benefits to which they are entitled. Consequently, this memorandum gives additional direction for implementing Executive Order 14218 with regard to Social Security Act programs.

(b) The Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Commissioner of Social Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security as necessary, shall take all reasonable measures, consistent with applicable law, to ensure ineligible aliens are not receiving funds from Social Security Act programs. Such measures shall include promulgating any necessary guidance or regulations regarding Social Security Act funds and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with law, prioritizing civil or administrative enforcement actions against States, localities, or other similar grantees or subgrantees that do not take adequate measures to verify eligibility, stop payments to deceased or otherwise ineligible payees, or otherwise prevent ineligible aliens from receiving funds from Social Security Act programs.

(c) The Attorney General and the Commissioner of Social Security shall cooperate to detail and credential such Special Assistant United States Attorneys as are necessary to expand the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) full-time fraud prosecutor program to at least 50 United States Attorney Offices by October 1, 2025. Likewise, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall cooperate to establish a similar fraud-prosecutor program utilizing Special Assistant United States Attorneys with regard to programs administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which shall operate in at least 15 United States Attorney Offices by October 1, 2025. Detailees in both programs shall emphasize prosecutions of identity theft and beneficiary-side fraud. To the extent feasible, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services or the Commissioner of Social Security, as applicable, shall prioritize assigning new detailees in both programs to the 10 United States Attorney Offices whose jurisdictions encompass the largest known populations of illegal aliens, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.