Executive order incoming…
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Monday formally creating a federal task force aimed at rooting out benefits fraud nationwide, with Vice President JD Vance tapped to lead what administration officials are calling a government-wide “war on fraud.”
Vance is expected to join Trump in the Oval Office for the signing, underscoring the White House’s push to crack down on fraud tied to social-service programs administered in partnership with state and local governments.
The initiative follows a high-profile fraud scandal in Minnesota involving alleged abuse of taxpayer-funded programs, which has resulted in dozens of indictments tied to fraudulent nutrition and autism care services.
According to a document describing the order, officials believe similar vulnerabilities may exist in several states, including California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Colorado.
“Insufficient safeguards and weak oversight increase the risk of large-scale fraud,” the document says.
The order will establish the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, with Andrew Ferguson serving as vice chair and White House adviser Stephen Miller acting as senior adviser. Cabinet members are expected to participate as needed.
Under the order, the task force will develop a national strategy to combat fraud affecting programs that provide housing, food assistance, medical benefits and other financial support administered with state and local governments.
Officials say the initiative will also examine new anti-fraud standards, including stricter identity verification requirements, documentation rules and expanded 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 spokesperson for Vance said.
“This fraud has happened on such a massive scale that it’s endangering the future viability of America’s entire social safety net.”
“The Trump administration is responding with a whole-of-government war on fraud that includes multiple stakeholders who will follow the fraud wherever it leads.”
The task force will be created as the administration also moves to strengthen enforcement inside the Justice Department. Trump recently nominated Colin Macdonald to serve as the department’s first assistant attorney general focused specifically on fraud enforcement.
Watch the clip below:
TODAY: President Trump and VP Vance will sign an executive order to formally launch a new task force against fraud, @PressSec Karoline Leavitt says.
"This is really going to establish a whole of government effort to fight fraud at both the state and the federal level, in every… pic.twitter.com/fMgyK6LEgK
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) March 16, 2026
More over at The New York Post:
Trump to formally name Vance chair of fraud task force – with California, New York among states in crosshairs https://t.co/PcY46zg4pi pic.twitter.com/msMJgEn58u
— New York Post (@nypost) March 16, 2026
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