Government operations and workforce

Executive Order 13019: Supporting Families: Collecting Delinquent Child Support Obligations

President: Bill Clinton

Directed Treasury and HHS to use federal-payment offsets and coordinated data to collect past-due child support referred by states and tribes.

Status: In effect.

Is Executive Order 13019 still in effect? Yes. Active; Treasury continues to implement it through the Treasury Offset Program and files annual reports.

What does Executive Order 13019 do?

EO 13019 implemented child-support provisions of the Debt Collection Improvement Act. It required Treasury to build administrative-offset procedures, HHS to transmit state and tribal claims, and payment agencies to match records and offset eligible federal payments. It also directed lawful denial of certain federal loans and guarantees, with due-process and child-interest safeguards. Treasury still cites the order as authority for its Offset Program and reported $1.41 billion collected in fiscal 2024 and more than $53.78 billion since the order.

Administration position: The order enables offsets only where law and program rules permit; it does not let Treasury seize every federal benefit or decide whether the underlying child-support debt is valid.
SignedSeptember 28, 1996
HHS implementation deadline120 days
Fiscal 2024 collections$1.41 billion

Before and after

Before the order

Tax-refund interception existed, but federal non-tax payment offsets were not yet centrally coordinated for child support.

After the order

State and tribal debts could be matched against a broader set of eligible federal payments through Treasury.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
TreasuryOperate administrative offsets and issue rulesContinuing
HHSTransmit certified state and tribal child-support debtsContinuing
Payment agenciesMatch and offset eligible paymentsSubject to exemptions and due process

What happened next

The Debt Collection Improvement Act became law.

EO 13019 directed implementation.

Treasury reported fiscal 2024 collections to the President.