President Donald Trump on Monday established the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and tapped Vice President JD Vance as its chairman.
Trump signed the executive order in the Oval Office on Monday, flanked by the vice president and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, who will serve as the task force’s vice chairman.
White House staff secretary Will Scharf emphasized that the task force aims to root out “widespread revelations of fraud in federally-funded programs in states like Minnesota and California,” and potentially return billions or possibly hundreds of billions of dollars to taxpayers.
“This is going to launch a whole-of-government approach to rooting out the very serious problem of fraud in federally-funded programs around the country,” Scharf said.
The order directs the task force to establish a national strategy to end waste, fraud, and abuse in federal benefit programs, including in cash assistance, food, housing, and medical care programs, a White House fact sheet notes.
“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,” the document states.
“The Task Force will also coordinate development of minimum anti-fraud requirements to prevent exploitation of taxpayer-funded benefits, including proof of identity and documentation requirements, risk controls, and audit and remedial actions, while each member agency works to develop a measurable implementation plan,” it adds.
The vice president highlighted Somali fraud in Minnesota surrounding a Medicaid program meant to go to autistic children, and he stressed the task force will halt fraud and ensure benefits go to American citizens, as they are supposed to.
“What this executive order does is force the entire apparatus of the federal government to do two things: stop the fraud of the American taxpayer, and make sure that the benefits that ought, by right, go to American citizens, go to American citizens, and not to fraudsters,” Vance said.
A Vance spokesperson underscored the importance of addressing the fraud in a statement to Breitbart News.
“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. This fraud has happened on such a massive scale that it’s endangering the future viability of America’s entire social safety net,” the spokesperson said. “Vice President Vance is proud to lead the newly announced task force focused on tackling rampant fraud at the forefront of the Administration’s whole-of-government War on Fraud. The task force will lead the charge in identifying and prosecuting fraudsters and ensuring states are taking reasonable steps to prevent criminals from ripping off taxpayers.”
