WASHINGTON — President Trump will sign an executive order Monday afternoon formally creating a benefits fraud task force chaired by Vice President JD Vance — the president’s designee to lead a nationwide “war on fraud.”
Vance will join Trump in the Oval Office for the signing, underscoring the president’s continued emphasis on the project after highlighting a social-services scam scandal in Minnesota which has lead to dozens of indictments, including for phony nutrition and autism care programs.
A document describing the looming order says “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.”
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.
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 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 form on the heels of Trump nominating Colin Macdonald to serve as the Justice Department’s first assistant attorney general for fraud enforcement.
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.
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