President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday creating a new federal task force to root out fraud in government benefit programs, naming Vice President JD Vance to lead the effort.
The body, officially called the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, will coordinate a government-wide crackdown on fraud in programs jointly administered by federal, state, and local governments, including housing assistance, food benefits, and health care.
“In states across the country, fraudsters are depriving vulnerable citizens of basic social services, stealing billions of your tax dollars, and eroding America’s social fabric,” a spokesperson for Vance told the New York Post. “This fraud has happened on such a massive scale that it’s endangering the future viability of America’s entire social safety net.”
Andrew Ferguson, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, will serve as vice chair. White House adviser Stephen Miller will act as senior adviser. Cabinet officials will rotate depending on the programs under review.
Administration officials said the task force will develop a national strategy to identify vulnerabilities in benefit systems and implement stronger safeguards: identity verification requirements, tighter documentation standards, and targeted audits to prevent abuse.
The action follows Trump’s State of the Union address earlier this year, where he pledged to launch what his administration is calling a “war on fraud.”
The announcement comes amid a major scandal in Minnesota, where fraudulent claims tied to nutrition and autism care services resulted in dozens of criminal indictments. Federal officials said similar vulnerabilities may exist in California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Colorado.
Earlier this year, Vance and Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced that $259.5 million in Medicaid reimbursements for Minnesota would be withheld pending a corrective action plan from Gov. Tim Walz.
Trump also recently nominated Colin Macdonald to serve as the Justice Department’s first assistant attorney general focused specifically on fraud enforcement.
