House Ways and Means hearing spotlights widespread TANF non‑assistance spending and Mississippi abuse

The House Ways and Means Committee convened a hearing focused on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), with lawmakers and witnesses urging stronger federal guardrails after examples of misspent funds in multiple states — most prominently a Mississippi case that prosecutors say involved tens of millions of dollars.

Committee chairman Smith opened the hearing saying the panel has been “laser focused on helping Americans in need” and that Congress must “restore integrity and accountability to TANF.” The chairman and many members framed the central problem as the program’s non‑assistance portion — the set of state‑run uses for block grant dollars that, witnesses testified, now makes up roughly three‑quarters of TANF spending.

Why it matters: TANF’s non‑assistance spending is large and loosely governed, witnesses and members said. Sam Adolfsson, policy director at the Foundation for Government Accountability and a former state TANF official, told the committee that the program has “drifted from the core mission of getting people back to work” and urged steps such as measuring improper payments, reserving funds for households below an income threshold, and requiring more frequent audits.

“The program has drifted from the core mission,” Adolfsson said. He noted that only a small share of non‑assistance dollars have gone to work, training and education — citing an 8.1% figure for 2022 — and that states sit on large unspent reserves.

Witnesses detailed misuse and state practices. Former professional football player Brett Favre testified about being swept into litigation arising from Mississippi’s handling of TANF funds and described returning funds he had received after learning of concerns. A Mississippi advocate who testified about his state’s experience said auditors and prosecutors documented purchases of cars, vacations, real estate and appearance fees paid with funds intended for poor families; the witness said Families First for Mississippi, a grantee, had received more than $50 million and that the state retained large unallocated TANF balances.

Missouri witness Matt Underheil, who credited the Missouri Excel Center and the SkillUp program with helping him get a diploma and steady employment, urged more investment in workforce and case‑management programs that connect people to steady work. “If you don’t teach somebody how to work and how to support themselves, giving them money month after month isn’t enough,” Underheil told the committee.

Members pressed a mix of policy responses. Proposals discussed included: requiring annual audits of TANF non‑assistance spending; measuring improper payment rates for TANF; restricting certain non‑assistance awards to households under an income threshold (several members and witnesses mentioned a 200% of federal poverty line benchmark); and allowing some TANF funds to be channeled to proven workforce programs such as WIOA (the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act).

Lawmakers from both parties referenced existing and proposed legislation: the fiscal responsibility act reforms already enacted by Congress last year; the TANF State Expenditure and Integrity Act (identified in committee remarks as authored by members including Representative Danny Davis and Representative Judy Chu) to give the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) more oversight authority; and bills to allow states to braid or transfer TANF non‑assistance to workforce programs. Committee members also noted a GAO review requested by the committee of TANF non‑assistance spending.

Where witnesses and members differed was less about the existence of misuse than about federal vs. state roles. Some witnesses and Republican members stressed the value of state flexibility to design programs tailored to local needs; others and several Democratic members argued that the current statutory structure leaves HHS with too little authority to identify and correct misuse and that federal penalties or recovery requirements are needed when states divert funds from needy families.

The hearing record included multiple concrete figures cited by witnesses: testimony referenced that TANF non‑assistance is about 77% of program spending, that only about 8.1% of spending supported work/training in 2022, that some states held billions in unspent TANF reserves (a figure of about $6.4 billion in 2022 was cited), and that Mississippi’s scandal involved allegations of roughly $77 million of misspent funds and more than $50 million awarded to a single nonprofit contractor. Witnesses also contrasted the reach of TANF cash assistance with the expanded child tax credit, noting in Mississippi more than 350,000 families received the expanded child credit while only a few thousand received TANF cash assistance in the same period.

Committee members said they would continue oversight work. Chairman Smith and others described the GAO review, earlier subcommittee hearings, and drafted member bills as part of a multi‑step effort to tighten rules, improve audits and require that recovered misspent funds be returned to families in need. No formal votes or rule changes were announced at the hearing; members asked HHS and GAO for more information and signaled legislative markups could follow.

The discussion underscored competing objectives: preserve state flexibility to fund locally effective programs while ensuring federal dollars targeted to families in poverty are not used as budget‑backfill, tuition subsidies for relatively well‑off households, or private contractors’ overhead. The committee’s next steps, members said, would include follow‑up questions and potential legislative text aimed at narrowing that gap.

The hearing record and witness statements will form part of the committee’s continued oversight. Members asked witnesses for supporting materials; the committee also entered GAO and other reports for the record and promised further review as it considers statutory and regulatory changes to TANF oversight.