![White House pushing Congress to pass funding to combat pandemic-related fraud](https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2023/03/02/f6dab72b-e624-4116-8970-7cd034dc9898/thumbnail/1200x630/aba0b6a48749c8b5f4a6199e6087d82c/gettyimages-1247599019.jpg)
White House pushing Congress to pass funding to combat pandemic-related fraud
CBSN
President Joe Biden's administration is asking Congress to agree to pay more than $1.6 billion to help clean up the mess of fraud against the massive government coronavirus pandemic relief programs.
In a strategy announced Thursday, the administration called for money and more time to prosecute cases, to put into place new ways to prevent identity theft and to help people whose identities were stolen.
On a call with reporters, White House American Rescue Plan coordinator Gene Sperling had hope that Congress, including the GOP-controlled House that is often hostile to the Democratic administration, would see the spending as an investment.
![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250211015324.jpg)
As vaccination rates decline, widespread outbreaks of diseases like measles and polio could reemerge
Health officials in western Texas are trying to contain a measles outbreak among mostly school-aged children, with at least 15 confirmed cases. It's the latest outbreak of a disease that had been virtually eliminated in the U.S., and it comes as vaccination rates are declining — jeopardizing the country's herd immunity from widespread outbreaks.