Proposed Rules. Notice of designation

Agency: Departmental Offices, Department of the Treasury
Action: Notice of designation. The Do Not Pay Working System is a centralized portal through which agencies can search multiple databases to obtain information about potential federal payees and awardees for the purpose of identifying and preventing improper payments. Pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 3354(b)(2), the Director of the Office of Management and Budget has delegated authority to the Secretary of the Treasury to designate additional databases for inclusion in the Do Not Pay Working System when those databases substantially assist in preventing improper payments. Section 3354(b)(2) requires the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to provide public notice and an opportunity for comment prior to designating additional databases for inclusion in the Do Not Pay Working System. In fulfillment of this requirement, Treasury published a Notice of Proposed Designation on February 10, 2026, for the Social Security Administration's Numerical Identification System (Numident) database. At the expiration of the comment period, Treasury received a total of three responsive comments on the proposed designation. The commenters all expressed support for the use of SSA's Numident to strengthen the integrity of Federal funds disbursements in health or income maintenance programs. One commenter expressed privacy concerns relating to Social Security data and stated that there should be limits on who can access the data. Treasury's Do Not Pay program will employ strict safeguards to protect Numident data, including adherence to the Privacy Act, SSA's system-specific requirements, and Fiscal Service's established administrative, technical, and physical security controls. These controls include limited, need-to-know access; audit logging; secure transmission protocols; mandatory privacy and security training; and compliance with Federal Information Security Modernization Act and National Institute of Standards and Technology requirements. Two commenters raised concerns regarding the potential for Numident data quality issues and recommended that Treasury describe the process by which individuals can identify and correct errors arising from Numident-based verifications. We understand the concern regarding the possibility of payment determinations based on Do Not Pay results containing incorrect Numident information. Do Not Pay will provide guidance to agencies eligible to access Numident, including requirements to make an independent judgment regarding decisions to certify a payment for disbursement and to take additional independent steps to verify a benefit recipient's eligibility before taking any adverse action, when necessary or appropriate or when required by law. See, e.g., 31 U.S.C. 3528 (regarding the certifying official's responsibility for the legality of proposed payments); 31 U.S.C. 3354(b)(4) (“When using the Do Not Pay Initiative, an executive agency shall recognize that there may be circumstances under which the law requires a payment or award to be made to a recipient, regardless of whether that recipient is identified as potentially ineligible under the Do Not Pay Initiative.”); 5 U.S.C. 552a(p) (requiring agencies participating in computer matching programs to verify match results and provide individuals an opportunity to contest the results prior to taking adverse action on the basis of the results). One commentor suggested that Treasury provide a definition for “health or income maintenance programs” to reflect the full range of programs that may have access to the Numident database through the Do Not Pay Working System. A “health maintenance program” is any noncommercial program ( e.g., Medicare and Medicaid) administered by a government agency that is designed to provide an individual with healthcare (both prevention and treatment) or to subsidize the cost of such care. See SSA Program Operations Manual System (POMS) GN 03313.001.C.1.d and GN 03314.001.A.3. An “income maintenance program” is any noncommercial program administered by a government agency that is designed to provide an individual with basic necessities of life ( e.g., food, clothing, shelter, and utilities), or supplement the individual's income to permit the purchase of such necessities. See POMS GN 03313.001.C.1.d and GN 03314.001.A.4. Examples of income maintenance programs include subsidized housing, Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), services under Title XX of the Social Security Act, fuel subsidies, unemployment insurance compensation, and government pension programs. See POMS GN 03314.001.A.4. Loan programs are not income maintenance programs for disclosure purposes. See POMS GN 03313.001.C.1.d and GN 03314.001.A.4. Treasury has determined that the designation of Numident to the Do Not Pay Working System should proceed. Effective immediately, Treasury has designated Numident to the Do Not Pay Working System. Under this designation, Numident will be available solely for the purpose of verifying the names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth of individuals receiving payments and awards under federal and federally funded state-administered health or income maintenance programs
Citation: FR Doc. 2026-06959 · Docket ID No. TREAS-DO-2026-0034