Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) called out the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) for its unsatisfactory production of documents after being subpoenaed by the Committee.  PBGC was subpoenaed for failing to provide adequate responses to the Committee’s inquiries regarding the agency overpaying $127 million in taxpayer money to the Central States Pension Fund (Central States) for deceased participants. On April 8—a day before the Committee’s subpoena deadline—PBGC confirmed that it recouped the $127 million from Central States.
 
“Thanks to the diligence and oversight of the Committee in holding PBGC accountable, 127 million in precious taxpayer dollars has been clawed back. This is a textbook example of the importance of congressional oversight. While I’m pleased by this outcome, the Committee’s investigation into PBGC doesn’t end here. For months, the agency dragged its feet in addressing this error. And the same error may have affected special financial assistance sent to more than 60 other multiemployer pension plans. PBGC had a deadline today to provide documents in response to the Committee’s subpoena, but it failed to provide any insight into the cause of the overpayment to Central States or scope of the problem at large. That’s unacceptable, and It’s critical that we continue our investigation to understand how this error occurred in the first place and why PBGC initially took the position that the money should not be recovered. Getting this money back to the taxpayers is a huge win and an important first step, but it means nothing if the problem continues to happen in the future,” said Chairwoman Virginia Foxx.

Background:
 
January 16, 2024: The Committee demanded PBGC explain its actions regarding overpayments by January 29. PBGC did not respond until February 9. When PBGC responded, it failed to provide the information requested.
 
February 26, 2024: The Committee reiterated its requests to PBGC with a one-week deadline. PBGC again required additional time to answer. When PBGC responded on March 11, it again failed to provide complete responses.
 
March 11, 2024: After significant oversight from the Education and the Workforce Committee, the Department of Labor disagreed with an earlier PBGC decision and stated that multiemployer pension plans must repay the overpayment.
 
March 20, 2024: During an oversight hearing with PBGC Director Hartogensis, multiple Committee members requested additional information pertaining to the overpayment. Director Hartogensis failed to satisfy these requests.
 
March 26, 2024: Chairwoman Foxx sent a subpoena to PBGC requiring it to produce documents and information related to its overpayments by April 9, 2024.

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