(The Center Square) – Vice President JD Vance held the first meeting of the White House Fraud Task Force on Friday. Leaders in the task force highlighted goals and expressed frustration over not receiving receipts on Minnesota’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
The task force included various cabinet secretaries and members of the Trump administration including U.S. Homeland Security advisor Stephen Miller, FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson, and Vance.
Vance said many fraud protections in the government were stopped during President Joe Biden’s administration. He said the task force would be focused on increasing communication between cabinet secretaries about fraud concerns and administering anti-fraud protections.
“What we’re going to actually do is force the bureaucracy to take it seriously and work together as political principles to make sure that we stop allowing fraudsters to steal the American people’s money,” Vance said.
Andrew Ferguson, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, is set to lead the task force alongside Vance. He said the group will seek to develop a national strategy to specifically target fraud in federal benefit programs such as SNAP, Medicare and Medicaid.
He said the task force would assist the Department of Justice in prosecuting those who have participated in fraud schemes across the country.
“We will restore the social trust that has been lost because of mismanagement and fraud,” Ferguson said.
Stephen Miller, U.S. Homeland Security advisor, said the White House has not been able to get names for anyone on SNAP in Minnesota. He criticized leadership in Minnesota and other states run by Democrat leaders for not cooperating with federal efforts to obtain data.
“All of these programs are operated entirely on the honor system. No verification takes place before individuals are enrolled in or receive these benefits,” Miller said of federal aid programs in states run by Democrat leaders.
Vance was joined by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins; Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr; Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and others. He said communication between the secretaries about fraud would be of utmost importance for the task force.
The White House’s Fraud Task Force is not the Trump administration’s first attempt at combating fraud waste and abuse in the federal bureaucracy. The Department of Government Efficiency, launched in the beginning of President Trump’s term, recommended cuts to federal programs and reductions in the workforce.
DOGE reports it has saved taxpayers $215 billion in its cuts, far short of the $2 trillion initially promised. The department endorsed the White House fraud task force when it was officially announced.
The Center Square did not immediately receive a response from the White House on the difference between anti-fraud efforts of the task force and DOGE. During the meeting, Vance mentioned several executive departments but notably left out DOGE. A representative from DOGE was also not present in the task force meeting.
“We’ve got allies across every major, significant department, and we are going to stop the fraud that’s being committed against the American people,” Vance said.
