Administrative Sanctions and Benefit Withholding

View Report

Date Issued

Monday, June 29, 2026

Submitting OIG

Social Security Administration OIG

Agencies Reviewed/Investigated

Social Security Administration

Report Number

042303

Report Type

Audit

Agency Wide

Yes

Number of Recommendations

Questioned Costs

$49,634,501

Funds for Better Use

$27,571

Report updated under NDAA 5274

External Link

https://oig.ssa.gov/assets/uploads/042303.pdf

Open Recommendations

This report has 7 open recommendations.

Recommendation Number	Significant Recommendation	Recommended Questioned Costs	Recommended Funds for Better Use
1	No	$111,541	$18,140
Review, and take appropriate corrective action, for the cases identified in this audit.
2	No	$0	$0
Update policies to reflect changes in sanctions processing guidance, clarify how employees should store sanction determination, and specify when employees should add sanction language to the Master Beneficiary Record and/or Supplemental Security Record.
3	Yes	$49,522,960	$9,431
Establish systems interfaces, edits, and/or automated alerts to improve sanctions processing, including ensuring employees suspend benefits under all appropriate records for the correct months and durations and notifying employees when an individual with a deferred sanction begins receiving benefits.
4	Yes	$0	$0
Improve controls over employees’ documentation of sanction development and determinations, such as edits requiring completion of relevant fields in the Administrative Sanctions Tool and a sanctions coordinator or designated expert periodically review of a sample of all sanction categories.
5	No	$0	$0
Establish a process for a sanctions coordinator or designated expert to periodically review sanction notices to identify and address quality issues.
6	No	$0	$0
Update its systems to issue accurate sanction notices to individuals.
7	No	$0	$0
Revise policies and procedures to instruct employees to document fraud or similar fault determinations on overpayments related to sanctionable actions to ensure the Social Security Administration implements full withholding when applicable.