← Videos · Fraud, Waste & Corruption

Acting Labor Secretary Sonderling Details COVID Unemployment Fraud Cleanup on LiveNow from FOX

September 14, 2026 · USDepartmentofLabor · 0:10:54

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling discussed unemployment-insurance fraud on LiveNow from FOX, in an interview the Labor Department published on September 14, 2026. Sonderling said the Department of Labor plays a major role in the White House task force on fraud led by the Vice President, and that of roughly $900 billion in COVID-era unemployment funds, almost $135 billion may have been related to fraud, according to his remarks.

Sonderling cited examples he described as egregious: $1.2 billion paid to people under 14, thousands of claims for people over 115, payments to dead people and prisoners, and one successful claim from someone listed as born in the year 2154, as stated in the interview. He said criminal rings and foreign actors exploited a “pay first and verify later” system, and that the department is working with its inspector general to recover the money, according to his remarks.

On recovery, Sonderling said the department had recently frozen $900 million sitting on prepaid debit cards and more than $500 million through prevention efforts, as stated in the interview. He said a strike team is on the ground in California and will deploy to more than 20 states for comprehensive audits, and he named California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania as states with continuing high overpayment or fraud problems, according to his remarks. He warned that states that do not adopt verification systems face funding consequences and possible civil and criminal referrals, as stated in the interview.

Why it matters

This is the Labor Department’s fullest public account of the COVID unemployment-fraud cleanup: a $135 billion suspected-fraud figure, named problem states, and a state-by-state audit and enforcement campaign with funding and prosecution consequences attached.

Scoreboard watch

Sonderling’s figures — almost $135 billion of roughly $900 billion in COVID unemployment funds possibly fraudulent, $900 million frozen on prepaid cards, and audits across more than 20 states — are specific claims the scoreboard editor can track against inspector-general and department reporting.

Sources: USDepartmentofLabor, “Secretary Sonderling speaks on LiveNow from FOX”, 2026-09-14 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-09-14). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.