VP Vance Launches Anti-Fraud Task Force with Cabinet Secretaries

New initiative aims to root out waste, fraud and abuse across government programs

Mar. 27, 2026 at 5:48pm

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Vice President JD Vance hosted the first meeting of the new Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, bringing together top cabinet officials to take a 'whole-of-government' approach to tackling fraud and restoring public trust in social welfare programs. Vance said the Biden administration had 'turned off' anti-fraud protections, leading to a 'massive' increase in fraud, and pledged to 'turn back on those anti-fraud protections' while improving coordination across federal agencies.

Why it matters

Fraud in government programs not only wastes taxpayer money, but also erodes public trust in the social safety net. The new task force aims to crack down on fraud and restore confidence that federal benefits are reaching those truly in need.

The details

The task force, chaired by Vance with FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson as vice chair, has already taken action, identifying and suspending 70 high-risk hospice and home health providers in Los Angeles. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said many programs, especially in Democratic-led states, operate on an 'honor system' with no verification processes, leading to abuse by some recipients.

  • The task force was established less than two weeks ago.
  • The first roundtable meeting was held on Friday, March 27, 2026.

The players

JD Vance

Vice President of the United States and chairman of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.

Andrew Ferguson

Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and vice chair of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.

Stephen Miller

White House Deputy Chief of Staff.

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What they’re saying

“A lot of the anti-fraud protections that existed in our government for a very long time were actually turned off by the Biden administration. So we think fraud has been a problem for a long time. It became a massive, massive problem under the Biden administration.”

— JD Vance, Vice President

“I think that most citizens would probably assume that there's some verification process that takes place for the receipt of most federal benefits. The reality is that there is not. This is particularly true in blue states, willfully true in blue states in which all of these programs are operating entirely on the honor system. No verification takes place before individuals are enrolled in or receive these benefits.”

— Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff

“Fraud shreds the social trust on which these programs and our entire nation depend. This fraud crisis is thus existential. If we fail to address it, the fabric of our nation will swiftly unravel, and the American people feel like they are getting ripped off, and they're right.”

— Andrew Ferguson, FTC Chairman

What’s next

The task force plans to continue its work identifying and suspending fraudulent providers across government programs, while also pushing to restore anti-fraud protections that were previously removed.

The takeaway

The new anti-fraud task force represents a whole-of-government effort to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse in federal benefit programs, with the goal of restoring public trust and ensuring taxpayer dollars are used effectively to support those truly in need.