Trump Launches Federal Task Force to Crack Down on "Massive" Welfare Fraud

Addressing a meeting of senior officials, Vance said the administration would restore anti-fraud safeguards and enforce cross-departmental coordination to detect abuse in federal benefit programs.

"We have to take the fraud issue seriously," he said, adding that protections that existed for years were "turned off" and needed to be reinstated. "We're going to turn back on those anti-fraud protections."

He said the effort would involve a "whole of government approach," bringing together agencies that handle healthcare, housing, agriculture, and treasury functions to identify irregularities and share intelligence.

"This is not just theft of the American people's money - this is also theft of critical services that the American people rely on," Vance said.

He cited an example involving Medicaid-linked services in Minnesota, alleging that fraudulent activity had diverted "millions and millions of dollars" meant for autistic children and their families.

"You have families who need these services, who are unable to get them because people are getting rich off of fraud schemes," he said.

An official leading the task force said fraud had eroded public trust in government programmes and warned of broader consequences if left unchecked.

"Fraud shreds the social trust on which these programmes and our entire nation depend," the official said, calling the crisis "existential" and pledging to develop a national strategy to combat it.

The official added that the task force would assist the Justice Department in prosecuting offenders and ensuring accountability across federal benefits systems.

Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller said many welfare programmes operate with limited verification, allowing abuse to proliferate.

"All of our systems were set up and established for a high-trust society," he said, adding that in some cases "no verification takes place before individuals are enrolled."

He alleged that individuals could misrepresent personal and financial details to receive benefits without checks, calling it "a massive theft of American taxpayer dollars."

Miller also accused political opponents of weakening enforcement mechanisms and resisting oversight efforts, saying attempts to scrutinise programme data had been blocked.

Vance said the task force had support across the cabinet and would work closely with new leadership at the Justice Department to intensify anti-fraud enforcement.

"We are going to stop the fraud that's being committed against the American people," he said.

The task force follows an executive order issued by President Donald Trump to tighten oversight of federal spending and improve accountability in public welfare programmes.

Concerns over fraud in US benefit systems have surfaced repeatedly in audits and congressional reviews, particularly after large-scale pandemic-era spending expanded federal assistance.

- IANS