WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order Monday afternoon formally creating a benefits-fraud task force chaired by Vice President JD Vance as part of his state-focused “war on fraud.”
Vance joined Trump in the Oval Office for the event, the details of which were first reported ahead of time by The Post.
“It seems that it’s usually in blue states. If it’s in a red state, we’re going there too,” said Trump, focusing his ire on the social-services scandal in Minnesota.
President Trump signed an order to formally put Vice President JD Vance in charge of an anti-fraud task force. Getty Images
Trump joked that Vance would fulfill his fraud-czar duties with greater zeal than former Vice President Kamala Harris embraced her role as President Biden’s border czar.
“This will not be like a Kamala where she was put in charge of the border and she never went there. JD, right, you promise?” the president said, with Vance agreeing.
A document describing the order said that, in addition to Minnesota, “there is strong reason to believe similar vulnerabilities exist in California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Colorado, where insufficient safeguards and weak oversight increase the risk of large-scale fraud.”
“We know California is many times worse, but Minnesota is terrible,” Trump said.
“They’re all terrible. Those cities are terrible. New York is terrible. What’s going on in Chicago, Illinois, with that slob of a governor, is terrible.”
Vance spoke about fraud in Minnesota, including phony autism care at facilities run by Somali-American immigrants.
The Trump administration has alleged social services fraud in Minnesota — but plans to expand scrutiny to other states. Getty Images
“Unfortunately, that kind of fraud is one example of probably hundreds just within the state of Minneapolis, and then it’s repeated and replayed all over the United States of America,” Vance said.
The Trump administration estimates fraud in Minnesota alone at $19 billion, with dozens charged criminally. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz expressed regrets during a recent congressional hearing and noted that he has accepted responsibility by ending his re-election campaign.
“We started to figure out one big hole that existed is that the agencies of the government weren’t actually talking to each other,” Vance said.
“So Treasury would have evidence of financial fraud but wasn’t talking to the Department of Justice about it. Health and Human Services had evidence of Medicaid fraud but wasn’t talking to the Department of Treasury about it.”
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson will assist Vance as vice chair of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and White House aide Stephen Miller will serve as senior adviser. Cabinet members will participate as necessary.
The EO instructs the task force to develop a comprehensive national strategy against fraud impacting programs administered with state and local governments to provide housing, food, medical and financial assistance.
Trump announced a Vance-led “war on fraud” during his State of the Union speech last month. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
The order calls for the development of anti-fraud standards such as proof of identity and other documentation requirements, as well as audits.
“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 Vance spokesperson told The Post.
“This fraud has happened on such a massive scale that it’s endangering the future viability of America’s entire social safety net.
The task force will form on the heels of Trump nominating Colin Macdonald to serve as the Justice Department’s first assistant attorney general for fraud enforcement.
Vance’s planned role leading the task force was first reported by CBS News on Feb. 4.
Trump announced the initiative at his annual State of the Union address to Congress this past Feb. 24.
The following day, Vance and Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, announced that $259.5 million in Medicaid funds for Minnesota would not be reimbursed due to fraud concerns — giving Democratic Gov. Tim Walz 60 days to submit a “corrective action plan” or face further withholdings.
The VP also announced a national pause on firms that can seek subsidies through Medicare for durable medical equipment like canes and walkers.