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President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order establishing a national task force to combat public fraud, placing Vice President JD Vance in charge of the effort.
The president said the effort could uncover widespread abuse of government programs and potentially save billions of dollars.
“If we found half the fraud in this country… we would have a balanced budget,” President Trump insisted.
The president also joked that he expected Vance to take the role seriously rather than treat it as a symbolic position.
“This will not be like a Kamala,” he said, referring to former Vice President Kamala Harris’s tenure as border czar.
President Trump had previously announced that Vance would lead the task force. The assignment marks one of the vice president’s major policy responsibilities in the administration.
Public welfare fraud has drawn renewed attention in recent years following revelations of large-scale misuse of government funds in Minneapolis. Authorities say the schemes involved individuals fraudulently obtaining federal funds distributed through state-administered social services programs during the 2020s.
According to some estimates, the fraud may have cost taxpayers about $9 billion. Investigations into the case have resulted in roughly 50 convictions.
Vance said the new task force would coordinate efforts across multiple federal agencies to identify and prevent similar schemes nationwide.
“This is a very important whole of government approach,” Vance said.
He also pointed to a fraud ring the administration had already uncovered involving individuals accused of improperly obtaining funding intended for autism therapy services.
“That kind of fraud is one example of probably hundreds just within the state,” he said.
A White House fact sheet released on Monday noted that, “The Order directs the Task Force, on behalf of the President, to coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to stop fraud, waste, and abuse across Federal benefit programs, including housing, food, medical care, and cash assistance administered with State and local partners, in order to protect these benefits for eligible Americans.”
It continued, “The Task Force will coordinate measures to improve eligibility verification, implement pre-payment controls, detect high-risk fraud trends, and disrupt and dismantle fraud networks and the mechanisms through which fraud is committed.”