Dead People Get Millions in Checks as Feud Over Data Endures (1)

Long before the Treasury Department sent $1.4 billion in stimulus checks to dead people last year, the U.S. government struggled to keep track of the deceased.

Dead farmers received about $22 million in crop subsidies over five years. The Federal Emergency Management Agency sent Hurricane Sandy disaster benefits to 45 people who died before the agency received their assistance applications. The Agriculture Department incorrectly paid $35 million in rural housing rental assistance because it didn’t know whether tenants passed away.

The misfires often aren’t human error. They result from a decades-long battle between state, local, and ...