Husted, Cassidy, Tuberville call for GAO investigation into child care fraud

“Child care assistance is meant to help working families, but the fraud and improper payments in this program mean too much of that money is going to the wrong people instead of families that rely on it.” WASHINGTON – Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), co-chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s education fraud task force, joined HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) and co-chair Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) in urging the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate improper payments and fraud in the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). “Child care assistance is meant to help working families, but the fraud and improper payments in this program mean too much of that money is going to the wrong people instead of families that rely on it. Taypayers deserve answers when states repeatedly misuse and mistakenly distribute tax dollars. I’m proud to join Chairman Cassidy and Sen. Tuberville in asking GAO to look at what states and HHS are doing to stop it,” said Husted. “Child care fraud is a nation-wide issue. We’ve got to clean up this mess and do it fast. We cannot sit by as fraudsters steal the money that is supposed to be funding children’s education,” said Cassidy. “The Trump administration has done a great job of exposing the waste, fraud, and abuse that has been happening in blue states across this country for years. Our number one priority is making sure that hardworking American taxpayers aren’t being ripped off. I’m glad to join my Republican colleagues in urging GAO to investigate and put an end to all fraud in the Child Care and Development Fund,” said Tuberville. Key excerpts of the letter include: “The CCDF program provides federal and state-funded childcare assistance to low-income families, helping them access quality childcare while they work, train, or attend educational programs. Congress has continuously supported providing this critical assistance to our hard-working constituents. However, significant challenges persist in preventing fraud and improper payments in this program,” the senators wrote. “Although HHS has taken steps to address recommendations from prior reports, including conducting a fraud risk assessment of the program, more actions need to be taken to address payment risks at the federal, state, and local levels,” the senators continued. “We are writing today to request GAO conduct a follow-up study on improper payments and fraud in the CCDF program,” the senators concluded. Background: In January 2026, HHS froze access to certain CCDF funds in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York due to serious concerns about widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars. Despite 8 million low-income families being eligible for the program, CCDF is only able to serve about 1.4 million. Read the full letter here .