No Aid for Ghost Students Act of 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. MENEFEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose H.R. 7892, the so-called No Aid for Ghost Students Act. Think about a first-generation student who is applying with a FAFSA for the first time. It is already one of the most confusing processes out there, but all this bill does is make it worse.

This bill would require the government to run every single financial aid application through a fraud detection algorithm, and if you get flagged, the college that you have been admitted to cannot release a single dollar until you jump through hoops to prove who you are.

When a student gets flagged, there is no timeline, no appeals process, no accuracy standards. For a kid who does not know the system, that could mean a missed enrollment deadline. It could mean lost housing. It could mean the end of a dream before it even starts. I know that as a first-generation college grad.

However, I want to be very clear about how this bill will impact folks. We heard earlier that this only applies when there is a real fraud risk, but that is a misnomer. Study after study on identification verification programs and fraud detection algorithms consistently show a higher false positive for Black and Hispanic users. Who are the students who are going to get flagged the most here? I bet they are going to be disproportionately Black. I bet they are going to be disproportionately Latino. I bet they are going to be lower income, those experiencing homelessness, eligible noncitizens, working adults who cannot afford to take a day off to drive to the financial aid office.

My colleague on the other side of the aisle said it best, and I completely agree: Taxpayer dollars are finite. Therefore, why is this body supporting the President and his war of choice? Why is this body supporting the President's creation of a ballroom? Why is this body supporting a President who is creating a fund for folks who stormed the Capitol?

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle could have targeted the fraud where it actually exists in higher education, but they didn't. Instead, they are locking in a brand-new unevaluated system into law with zero guardrails. That does not protect taxpayers. It just gives this administration unchecked power to delay aid to the students who need it the most.

If even one student in this country is denied financial aid wrongly because this algorithm did not work out properly because we rushed the process and didn't have accuracy standards, that would be an absolute travesty to the people that we serve.

Mr. Speaker, I oppose this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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