JD Vance Is Finally Crushing The Fraudsters

Interesting fraud, jd vance, medicaid, vince coglianese admin May 19, 2026 0 Comments

JD Vance Is Finally Crushing The Fraudsters

What a difference a vice president makes.

At President Donald Trump’s direction, Vice President J.D. Vance is leading a whole-of-government effort to finally fight the fraudsters who have stolen many billions of our tax dollars and deprived Americans in need of the benefits they’ve earned.

The White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud — quarterbacked by Vance — hit the ground running this year. After uncovering massive fraud in Minnesota, the task force and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) paused over $250 million in Medicaid funding to the state. “People are billing the government millions, tens of million, billions of dollars, saying they are providing a service, but there’s no actual confirmation,” Vance explained.

In just three months, the team has “uncovered tens of billions of dollars in defrauded taxpayer money, prosecuted dozens of fraudsters, and stopped billions in suspicious payments,” said Vance. The VP then added: “we’re just getting started.” He wasn’t kidding. (RELATED: Vance Turns Maine Fraud Event Into Midterm Battle Cry)

Just last week, Dr. Mehmet Oz — the administrator for CMS — announced that his agency had identified nearly 800 suspected fraudulent providers of hospice and home health care services in the Los Angeles, California, area alone, resulting in over $1.4 billion of potentially fraudulent payments. When CMS cut off all 800 providers, fewer than 20 even attempted to contest the move, Oz reported. “Unbelievable. So at least 780 are not even trying to claim that they’re not fraudulent,” Vance exclaimed. “It’s just completely insane.”

The task force suspects this kind of fraud is rampant nationwide. To shut it down, CMS has now implemented a nationwide six-month moratorium on all new hospice and home health care facilities.

Additionally, the task force sent letters to all 50 states requiring them to prove they are correctly and effectively prosecuting Medicaid fraud. If states refuse to do so, they could risk losing federal dollars.

Some states are doing the work: Texas’s Unit indicted nearly 200 defendants last year. Compare that to Hawaii, which has failed to indict a single fraudster over the last four years – unbelievable for a state that has spent nearly $12 billion on Medicaid over that same time period. The callous disregard for taxpayers by a Democrat-run state isn’t shocking, but it is appalling — taxpayers get fleeced while fraudsters get luaus.

Last month, the task force, alongside the General Services Administration, identified nearly $6.3 billion in government contracts going to potentially fraudulent businesses. The Small Business Association (SBA) referred 562,000 fraudulent loans, totaling over $22 billion, to the Treasury for collections – the largest referral in SBA history. Making the discovery even more outrageous, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler revealed that the former Biden-era SBA knew about the rampant alleged fraud but refused to take action. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Trump’s Small Business Chief Wages War On Fraud As Affordability Crisis Mounts)

Education Secretary Linda McMahon blocked $60 million in fraudulent student loans after launching a new risk assessment tool. According to McMahon, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application process now incorporates fraud detection, thanks to the task force’s efforts. This follows the Department of Education’s December discovery of $1 billion in fraudulent student loans stolen by “ghost students.”

The fraud, of course, doesn’t stop there. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has uncovered massive amounts of food stamp fraud. In Iowa last week, Vance revealed that at least 355,000 individuals nationwide are receiving double SNAP benefits, and at least 186,000 individuals are claiming SNAP using the benefits of deceased Americans. Rollins recently discovered that a single state had over 14,000 people receiving SNAP benefits, many of whom drive some of the world’s most incredible exotic cars — including Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Maseratis.

Of course, finding the fraud isn’t enough — the criminals must be prosecuted, imprisoned, and, if possible, deported.

The vice president has emphasized the need for aggressive prosecution of fraud, not just to bring justice for American taxpayers, but as a strong deterrence against fraud in the future, saying: “Our message is simple: No fraud is too big or too small to prosecute. If you are defrauding the American taxpayer, we will find you and take you to court.” (RELATED: Here’s Everything Tim Walz Got Away With As Minnesota Governor)

And Vance has the weapons to execute the mission. The Trump administration just launched a brand new National Fraud Enforcement Division at DOJ in April, led by Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald. In an unusual arrangement, demonstrating how aggressively Trump and Vance want to crack down on the fraudsters, McDonald reports directly to the vice president via the anti-fraud task force.

The division has been hard at work, hitting a $50 million Medicare fraud scheme in Los Angeles and executing 22 search warrants against fraudulent day care centers in Minnesota, including the infamous “Quality Learing Center.”

In just a few short months, the task force has unearthed massive amounts of fraud by utilizing a robust and effective whole-of-government approach.

Vice President Vance’s task force has proven it’s a serious effort which is producing real results. If they can keep pace over the coming months and years, the wins are only going to pile up. All Americans should be proud that this administration is finally looking out for their tax dollars.

Vince Coglianese is the editorial director and former editor-in-chief of the Daily Caller.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.