WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is proposing rules aimed at closing a legal loophole that debt collectors have used to seize Social Security and veterans' benefits from bank accounts.

The Treasury Department and other agencies published the proposed new rules on garnishment, or seizure, of government benefits in the Federal Register Wednesday.

Federal law has long protected Social Security and veteran benefits from most creditors. But creditors have been seizing the payments anyway by getting court orders to freeze and garnish bank accounts that receive the federal benefits through direct deposit.