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The Blind Spot in Trump’s War on Fraud: His Own Administration
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Memo Published September 23, 2026 · 7 minute read

The Blind Spot in Trump’s War on Fraud: His Own Administration

Annie Shuppy, Sudria Twyman, & Zach Moller

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President Donald Trump, seated center, joined by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, from left, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, attends a cabinet meeting, Friday, July 31, 2026, at Camp David, the presidential retreat, near Thurmont, Md., Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The Trump Administration talks a big game about rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. But while it has put fraud at the center of its political agenda, it has increasingly looked the other way at abuses closer to home.

Last year, we warned that the second Trump Administration was weakening the guardrails meant to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse while creating new opportunities for corruption and conflicts of interest.1 A year later, those problems have gotten worse. In this memo, we examine three ways the Trump Administration is undermining the very accountability it claims to champion:

  1. Trump and his family are using the presidency to grow their wealth, creating conflicts between public duties and private financial interests.
  2. Cabinet officials are increasing the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse through questionable spending, contracting, and relationships with private interests.
  3. The White House is weaponizing legitimate anti-fraud tools, using authorities meant to protect taxpayer dollars against political opponents while overstating its own anti-fraud record.

Fighting real fraud remains essential. But accountability cannot be selective. An administration cannot credibly claim to protect taxpayers while tolerating conflicts of interest at the top and politicizing the tools meant to safeguard public programs.

This memo continues a series highlighting opportunities to improve government efficiency and reduce waste, fraud, and abuse—often referred to as program integrity initiatives. For more on this topic, see our collected work here.

Trump and His Family Are Using the Office to Get Wealthier

President Trump was routinely criticized in his first administration for a variety of financial conflicts of interest, including those involving his Washington hotel.2 His second term has taken those conflicts to a new level. For example:

  • Unprecedented and largely unregulated crypto ventures: According to recent financial analyses from watchdog groups, Trump has generated more than $2.4 billion in estimated cash proceeds from his family’s cryptocurrency ventures since his 2024 election.3 These digital assets—which generally face less regulatory oversight than traditional financial markets—mark a stark pivot from Trump’s condemnation of crypto as a scam just two years earlier.4 Through World Liberty Financial Inc. (WLFI), the family’s decentralized finance platform, Trump has earned $59 million from USD1, a US-dollar-backed stablecoin; $636 million from $TRUMP, his meme coin; and nearly $1.5 billion from $WLFI, the platform’s governance token, whose purchasers saw a loss of nearly 90% of its value since launch.5 
  • Extensive stock trading while in office: Trump has also maintained an extraordinary volume of trading in traditional financial markets. His financial disclosures show more than 21,000 securities trades during his first year back in office, including transactions that coincided with consequential administration decisions.6 Examples include a roughly $500,000 purchase of Boeing stock on the same day the company received an $880 million government contract; a $500,000 investment in Abbott Laboratories months before the Justice Department dropped a criminal investigation into sanitation violations at a company plant linked to contaminated baby formula; and 327 stock purchases made on April 8, 2025—one day before Trump announced a 90-day pause in many of his “Liberation Day” tariffs.7
  • Profiting from war: The Trump family’s portfolio also includes substantial investments in defense technology. Specifically, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. have acquired stakes in American companies seeking federal business.8 Although many of these companies are newcomers to the competitive defense-contracting arena, those financed by the Trump brothers have generated more than $3.2 billion in direct government business. This amount is roughly equivalent to the National Park System’s operating budget, roughly 7% of the entire National Institutes of Health budget, or annual SNAP benefits for more than 1.4 million Americans.9

The Trump Cabinet is Creating New Waste and Abuse Risks

President Trump is not the only one creating serious breaches of public trust. Many high-ranking officials are creating plenty of their own. For example: 

  • Stretching the bounds of office privileges through personal use of public resources: While claiming to fight fraud, Trump administration officials are using government resources for luxury aircraft, family travel, political travel, and activities with dubious official purposes. These costs add up. For example, federal procurement data show that agencies spent more than $5 billion on air travel in FY 2025, up from $2.35 billion in 2016.10

    Former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem spent almost $300 million on a luxury aircraft fleet drawn from accounts intended for Coast Guard and border security purposes under OBBBA, prompting calls for investigations.

    It’s not just a DHS problem. FBI Director Kash Patel has taken more than 10 trips that likely violate federal travel regulations, including to the Olympics and to a wrestling tournament that included a performance by his girlfriend.11 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brought six of his children on an official trip to France earlier this year, potentially increasing security costs and diverting resources from Army investigations.12

  • Steering government contracts and controlling procurement in ways that may not serve the public interest: Investigations are looking into accusations that former DHS Secretary Noem improperly spent money for contracts that went to her allies (including on the aforementioned luxury aircraft and on a $220 million ad campaign) and were concealed through the use of holding companies.13

    The DHS Inspector General opened a formal investigation into the DHS contracts in spring 2026.14 The vulnerability of Trump administration contracting extends beyond DHS and into the Defense Department and the Department of the Interior, among others.15

  • Influencing agency regulations: Drug and food additive makers are among the most prominent examples of groups that are giving money to the same Trump officials that they are hoping will reward them with favorable policymaking.16 They have created conflicts between public duties and private interests, as these regulatory systems were designed to protect public health—not to merely respond to whoever enriches them.

    Current DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin disclosed an investment worth as much as $1 million in Botanic Tonics, a kratom company that could benefit from policies he had advocated, and he later pressed HHS to remove language from the FDA's website warning of harms from kratom.17 The Senate Finance Committee has launched an investigation into Mullin and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., favoring both kratom and tobacco companies that make vapes and e-cigarettes.18

The Trump Administration is Weaponizing Tools to Reduce Fraud

As the Trump administration has publicly focused on combating fraud in federal programs, it is creating a centralized, politically-directed enforcement apparatus. Recent actions have focused disproportionately on states that tend to vote for Democrats.19 For example: 

  • Cutting off funding for those who investigate Medicaid fraud: The Trump administration has withheld funds to the Medicaid programs in California, Minnesota and New York, and suspended federal funding for New York’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.20 The administration claimed the anti-fraud unit was not securing enough criminal indictments, but the New York Attorney General defended the office’s record and countered that it has recovered more than $627 million since 2019.21 The broader campaign against New York Medicaid was also marred by false data due to an inflated number of people allegedly using personal home care services.22
  • Targeting programs for private data on individuals: Two dozen states filed a lawsuit challenging a federal initiative that compels them to share the private personal data of TANF recipients.23 The Trump administration has similarly targeted states for personal data on beneficiaries of child care and SNAP programs, prompting a similar legal response.24 Leaders in states that are pushing back argue that the amount of requested personal data is unprecedented and could be used for immigration enforcement or purposes Congress never authorized. 
  • Rebranding anti-fraud achievements that happened under previous Presidents: Vice President J.D. Vance, the administration’s “Fraud Czar,” and Justice Department officials have ignited Trump’s supposed “war on fraud” by taking credit for prosecutions and investigations that occurred before Trump’s second administration even began.25 Feeding Our Future prosecutions connected to Minnesota fraud were announced in 2022 during the Biden administration, and a hospice crackdown in California was preceded by a moratorium established by Democrats in 2021.26 The Trump administration has also created a new National Fraud Enforcement Division within the Justice Department with a new assistant attorney general, even though the DOJ Criminal and Civil Divisions already have an extensive record of prosecuting fraud.27
TW Divider grey

Taking fraud seriously matters, and our recent polling shows that voters want accountability over spending.28 But the Trump administration has proven over and over again that their interest in accountability is selective.29 Real accountability means protecting taxpayer dollars no matter who is responsible for wasting or abusing them. That means holding government officials to the same standard as everyone else—and using anti-fraud tools to fight actual fraud, not political opponents.

Photo of Annie Shuppy
Photo of Sudria Twyman
Sudria Twyman
Senior Visiting Fellow for Public Trust and Accountability
Photo of Zach Moller
Zach Moller
Senior Director of the Economic Program
EconWonk

Topics

Endnotes

  1. Shuppy, Annie, and Zach Moller, “The Increased Risk of Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Trump 2.0,” Third Way, 27 May 2025, https://www.thirdway.org/report/the-increased-risk-of-waste-fraud-and-abuse-in-trump-2-0. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  2. For example see Foster, Michael A., and Kevin J. Hickey, “The Emoluments Clauses and the Presidency: Background and Recent Developments (CRS Report R45992),” Congressional Research Service, 5 November 2019, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45992. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Gordon, Daniel I., and Steven L. Schooner, “Trump Leases His D.C. Hotel From a Government Agency He’ll Soon Be in Charge Of,” The Washington Post, 15 November 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/11/15/trump-needs-to-give-up-his-trump-hotel-lease-right-now/. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  3. Center for American Progress, “Trump’s Take,” Center for American Progress, 2026, https://www.americanprogress.org/feature/trumps-take/. Accessed 14 September 2026.

    CAP’s tracker estimates that the Trump family has generated more than $2.4 in cash proceeds from cryptocurrency ventures since his election. Trump’s most recent financial disclosure separately reported more than $1.4 billion in crypto-related income in 2025 alone.

  4. Harty, Declan, “Trump Reports More Than $1.4B in Crypto Income,” Politico, 30 June 2026, https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/30/trump-crypto-windfall-disclosures-00983207. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  5. Roston, Aram, “Crypto Bank Part-Owned by Trump Family Offers Depositors Way to ‘Gain Favor’ With White House, Experts Say,” The Guardian, 20 August 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/20/crypto-bank-world-liberty-trust-company-trump. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Newsweek, “$10K Investment in Trump Crypto Coin on Inauguration Day Worth $364 Today,” Newsweek, 1 July 2026, https://www.newsweek.com/10k-investment-in-trump-crypto-coin-on-inauguration-day-worth-364-today-12150504. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Verma, Aniket, “Trump Family-Backed World Liberty Financial Token Lags Broader Crypto Rally After Billion-Dollar Crypto Income Disclosure,” Benzinga, 1 August 2026, https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/trump-family-backed-world-liberty-153026769.html. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  6. Lennon, Will, Nicholas Kerr, Laura Romero, and Peter Charalambous, “Trump Discloses 21,000 Securities Trades During First Year in Office,” ABC News, 2 July 2026, https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-discloses-21000-securities-trades-year-office/story?id=134427666. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Kopack, Steve, “Trump Bought More Than $100 Million in Bonds Since January, Filings Show,” NBC News, 20 August 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/business/markets/trump-bought-bonds-companies-governments-rcna226024. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  7. Herbert, Charlie, “Trump Bought Boeing Stock on the Day They Received £880 Million Government Contract,” The London Economic, 25 August 2026, https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/trump-bought-boeing-stock-on-the-day-they-received-880-million-government-contract-409160. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Vogell, Heather, “Unsanitary Practices Persist at Baby Formula Factory Whose Shutdown Led to Mass Shortages, Workers Say,” ProPublica, 4 April 2025, https://www.propublica.org/article/baby-formula-abbot-sturgis-michigan-shortages-unsanitary-conditions-workers-say. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Johnson, Jake, “Trump Loaded Up on Abbott Laboratories Stock Before His DOJ Dropped Criminal Probe,” Common Dreams, 2 July 2026, https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-abbott-laboratories. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Gutierrez, Gabe, and Steve Kopack, “Trump Discloses 327 Unreported Stock Trades Made a Day Before His First Tariff Pause,” NBC News, 2 July 2026, https://www.nbcnews.com/business/markets/trump-stock-trades-before-tariff-pause-rcna352723. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  8. Dwoskin, Elizabeth, Andrew Ba Tran, Luis Melgar, and Peter Jamison, “Trump’s Sons Invest Heavily in Defense Tech as Father’s Administration Pours Money In,” The Washington Post, 13 July 2026, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2026/07/13/trumps-sons-invest-heavily-defense-fathers-administration-pours-money. Accessed 14 September 2026.

    The Post investigation found at least $3.2 billion in direct government business since the Trump sons invested, plus about $3.1 billion in future contract options. SpaceX and Anduril account for 97% of the direct cash.

  9. The National Park Service received $3.1 billion in new obligations in FY 2025 for operation of the National Park System, with $3.0 billion estimated for FY 2026, according to the Appendix to the President’s FY 2027 budget.

    Office of Management and Budget, “Appendix, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2027,” Executive Office of the President, 2026, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/appendix_fy2027.pdf. Accessed 14 September 2026.

    The FY 2026 Consolidated Appropriations Act provided $47.2 billion in program-level funding to the NIH, according to appropriations tables included in the Congressional Record for the Labor-HHS-Education section of the bill (Division B). The $3.2 billion in Trump-connected defense contracts is equivalent to 6.8% of this budget. 

    United States Congress, “Congressional Record, 119th Congress, Second Session, Volume 172, No. 15,” Congress.gov, 22 January 2026, https://www.congress.gov/119/crec/2026/01/22/172/15/CREC-2026-01-22-bk2.pdf. Accessed 14 September 2026.

    The average SNAP benefit in FY 2024 was $187.20 per person per month, or $2,246.40 per year, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Annual SNAP benefits for 1.4 million people would total $3.2 billion.

    US Department of Agriculture, “2026 USDA Explanatory Notes: Food and Nutrition Service,” U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2025, https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/34-2026-CJ-FNS.pdf. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  10. U.S. Senate Office of Senator Maggie Hassan, “Ranking Members Hassan and Garcia Launch Investigation into Trump Administration’s Personal Use of Luxury Government Aircraft,” U.S. Senate Office of Senator Maggie Hassan, 9 July 2026, https://www.hassan.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-members-hassan-and-garcia-launch-investigation-into-trump-administrations-personal-use-of-luxury-government-aircraft. Accessed 14 September 2026. 

    Hassan’s office notes that actual spending on air travel may be considerably higher if agencies use charge cards to charter air transportation, such as helicopter travel.

  11. US Senate Office of Senator Maggie Hassan, “Ranking Members Hassan and Garcia Launch Investigation into Trump Administration’s Personal Use of Luxury Government Aircraft,” US Senate Office of Senator Maggie Hassan, 9 July 2026, https://www.hassan.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-members-hassan-and-garcia-launch-investigation-into-trump-administrations-personal-use-of-luxury-government-aircraft. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  12. Copp, Tara, “Hegseth Takes Six of His Children to France on Official Trip,” The Washington Post, 5 June 2026, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/06/05/hegseth-takes-six-his-kids-france-official-trip/. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  13. US House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security Democrats, “Letter to Secretary Kristi Noem Regarding Misuse of Taxpayer Funds on Advertisements,” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, 24 November 2025, https://democrats-homeland.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2025-11-24_t_noem-letter_re_misuse_of_taxpayer_funds_on_advertisements.pdf. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Democrats, “Ranking Member Robert Garcia Demands Answers on DHS $70+ Million Luxury Jet as First Lady and Admin Officials Use for Personal Transportation,” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 21 May 2026, https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-member-robert-garcia-demands-answers-on-dhs-70-million-luxury-jet-as-first-lady-and-admin-officials-use-for-personal-transportation. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Elliott, Justin, Joshua Kaplan, and Alex Mierjeski, “Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts,” ProPublica, 14 November 2025, https://www.propublica.org/article/kristi-noem-dhs-ad-campaign-strategy-group. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Kaplan, Joshua, Justin Elliott, and Alex Mierjeski, “Lawmakers Call for Probe of How Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Got Piece of $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts,” ProPublica, 24 November 2025, https://www.propublica.org/article/kristi-noem-dhs-strategy-group-senate-probe. Accessed 14 September 2026. And: Kaplan, Joshua, and Justin Elliott, “Kristi Noem Misled Congress About Top Aide’s Role in DHS Contracts,” ProPublica, 4 March 2026, https://www.propublica.org/article/kristi-noem-dhs-misled-senate-judiciary-corey-lewandowski-contracts. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Schwellenbach, Nick and Dan Friedman, “Unraveling the Corporate Ties to DHS’s ‘Big, Beautiful Jet,’” Project On Government Oversight, 10 March 2026, https://www.pogo.org/investigates/unraveling-the-corporate-ties-to-dhss-big-beautiful-jet. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  14. Barr, Luke, “DHS Inspector General Probing Contracts Handled by Ex-Secretary Kristi Noem,” ABC News, 2 April 2026, https://abcnews.com/Politics/dhs-inspector-general-probing-contracts-handled-secretary-kristi/story?id=131639026. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  15. Within the Defense Department, private equity firm founder Steve Feinberg serves as the deputy secretary of Defense and oversees the office in charge of the Golden Dome for America project, which is designed to intercept and destroy missiles launched at the United States. At least four of the companies that have been awarded contracts so far are owned by Cerberus Capital Management, Feinberg’s firm. 

    Within the Department of the Interior, the Trump administration entered into two no-bid contracts to re-coat the bottom of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. Over the next two months, costs initially estimated at $1.5 to $2 million increased to more than $16 million. The contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, acknowledged flaws in the installation plan, all while allegations that it was caused by vandalism started to unravel.

    For more information, see Johnson, Corey G., Brandon Roberts, and Al Shaw, “Documents Reveal a Web of Financial Ties Between Trump Officials and the Industries They Help Regulate,” ProPublica, 5 March 2026, https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-administration-financial-disclosures-steve-feinberg. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, “Whitehouse, Heinrich Urge Inspector General to Probe Trump DOI Deception Amid Reflecting Pool Saga,” US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, 5 August 2026, https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2026/8/whitehouse-heinrich-urge-inspector-general-to-probe-trump-doi-deception-amid-reflecting-pool-saga. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Dunbar, Marina, “Company hired for Trump’s reflecting pool makeover reportedly admits flaws in plan,” The Guardian, 11 September 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/11/reflecting-pool-repair-company-plan-flaws. Accessed 16 September 2026.

  16. Vogel, Kenneth P., and Christina Jewett, “How an Addictive Gas Station Drug Found Allies in Trump’s Cabinet,” The New York Times, 15 June 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/us/politics/kratom-trump-administration.html. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Winfield Cunningham, Paige, and Taylor Giorno, “Lobbying Groups Are Coming for RFK Jr.’s Fight to Regulate Food Additives,” The Washington Sun, 17 June 2026, https://www.washingtonsun.com/health-science/lobbying-groups-rfk-jr-fight-regulate-food-additives. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Payne, Daniel, and Lizzy Lawrence, “Pharma Lobbyists Focus on a Surprising New Target: the FDA,” STAT, 23 February 2026, https://www.statnews.com/2026/02/23/fda-lobbying-efforts-grow-under-trump-administration. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Democratic Staff, “Abandoning Americans to Disease: The Trump Administration’s Reckless Crusade Is Harming America’s Health,” US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 23 June 2026, https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2026-06-23cogrdemspublichealthreport.pdf. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  17. Vogel, Kenneth P., and Christina Jewett, “How an Addictive Gas Station Drug Found Allies in Trump’s Cabinet,” The New York Times, 15 June 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/us/politics/kratom-trump-administration.html. Accessed 14 September 2026. 

    A DHS spokesperson has said that Mullin has not lobbied for any individual or company and characterized his advocacy as targeting synthetic 7-OH rather than botanical kratom. A new investigation released in September raised questions about Mullin’s financial disclosures and whether he acquired his Bontanic Tonics stake before his policy advocacy. 

    For more information, see Baker, Ryan, and Ali Meyer, “Behind the Label: Kratom Connections in Oklahoma,” KFOR, 15 September 2026, https://kfor.com/news/local/behind-the-label-kratom-connections-in-oklahoma/. Accessed 16 September 2026.

  18. US Senate Committee on Finance, “Wyden Investigates Trump and RFK Jr. Corruption Favoring Big Tobacco and Kratom Companies,” US Senate Committee on Finance, 5 August 2026, https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-investigates-trump-and-rfk-jr-corruption-favoring-big-tobacco-and-kratom-companies. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Todd, Sarah, “Senate Inquiry Suggests Trump Administration Softened Kratom and Tobacco Policies in Quid Pro Quo,” STAT, 5 August 2026, https://www.statnews.com/2026/08/05/senator-ron-wyden-investigation-kennedy-flavored-vapes-kratom. Accessed 14 September 2026.

    Reynolds publicly responded to the investigation in late August, denying that its political contribution improperly influenced FDA policy. Wyden has not yet released an update on the Senate investigation.

    For more information, see Reynolds American, “Reynolds Responds to Senator Wyden’s Request for Comment,” Reynolds American, 31 August 2026, https://www.reynoldsamerican.com/news/reynolds-response-to-senator-wydens-request-for-comment/. Accessed 16 September 2026.

  19. Reuters, Vance to focus fraud efforts on Democratic states, Trump says, 3 April 2026, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/vance-focus-fraud-efforts-democratic-states-trump-says-2026-04-03/. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; GovIntegrity, “When Fraud Becomes a Political Weapon: The Case for Asking Why, Not Who,” Program Integrity Alliance, 22 June 2026, https://govintegrity.substack.com/p/when-fraud-becomes-a-political-weapon. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  20. US Department of Health and Human Services, “HHS Defers More Than $1 Billion in Medicaid Payments to California, Minnesota Pending Review of High-Risk Claims in Crackdown on Fraud,” US Department of Health and Human Services, 21 July 2026, https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-defers-medicaid-payments-california-minnesota-fraud-review.html. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Swenson, Ali, and Geoff Mulvihill, “Trump Administration Suspends Funding for New York’s Medicaid Fraud Unit,” Associated Press, 30 June 2026, https://apnews.com/article/medicaid-new-york-fraud-health-trump-2a88e5139ff5ffdd06f18e68af9029f4. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Price, Michelle L., and Ali Swenson, “Vance Says Administration Is Pausing Some Medicaid Funding to Minnesota Because of Fraud Concerns,” Associated Press, 25 February 2026, https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-medicaid-funding-fraud-trump-47b160fd664cdfeef355ae00ca5fecc0. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Swenson, Ali, and Anthony Izaguirre, “Trump Administration Widens Its Anti-Fraud Efforts With a Medicaid Probe in New York,” Associated Press, 4 March 2026, https://apnews.com/article/oz-medicaid-new-york-fraud-investigation-a00bd997ee5b8d839254144377c3b167. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  21. US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, “Statement on Federal Decertification of the New York Medicaid Fraud Control Unit,” US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, 2 July 2026, https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/enforcement/statement-on-federal-decertification-of-the-new-york-medicaid-fraud-control-unit/. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, “Statement on Federal Decertification of the New York Medicaid Fraud Control Unit,” US Department of Justice, 2 July 2026, https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndny/pr/statement-federal-decertification-new-york-medicaid-fraud-control-unit. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, “Letter to Attorney General Letitia A. James and Director Amy Held Regarding Federal Decertification of the New York Medicaid Fraud Control Unit,” US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, 30 June 2026, https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/medicaid-fraud-control-units/11727/NY_MFCU.pdf. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Office of the New York Attorney General, “Attorney General James Condemns Trump Administration for Slashing New York’s Resources to Fight Medicaid Fraud,” Office of the New York Attorney General, 30 June 2026, https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-condemns-trump-administration-slashing-new-yorks. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Office of the New York Attorney General, “Attorney General James and Comptroller DiNapoli Announce Takedown of $9 Million Medicaid Fraud Scheme in New York City,” Office of the New York Attorney General, 24 June 2026, https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-and-comptroller-dinapoli-announce-takedown-9-million. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Office of the New York Attorney General, “Attorney General James Announces Arrest of Medical Supply Company Owner for Stealing More Than $2.5 Million from Medicaid,” Office of the New York Attorney General, 29 June 2026, https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-announces-arrest-medical-supply-company-owner-stealing. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  22. Swenson, Ali, “AP Exclusive: Trump Administration Admits a Glaring Error in Its New York Health Fraud Accusations,” Associated Press, 9 April 2026, https://apnews.com/article/new-york-medicaid-fraud-dr-oz-trump-342285a3c5d5b71f36ce3f3c77ec72c5. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Kinnucan, Michael, “The Basic Math Error in Dr. Oz’s Fraud Letter,” Fiscal Policy Institute, 10 March 2026, https://fiscalpolicy.org/the-basic-math-error-in-dr-ozs-fraud-letter. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  23. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, “Attorney General Davenport Sues Trump Administration to Protect New Jersey Residents’ Personal Information,” New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, 3 August 2026, https://www.njoag.gov/attorney-general-davenport-sues-trump-administration-to-protect-new-jersey-residents-personal-information/. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Office of the New York Attorney General, “Attorney General James Sues Trump Administration to Protect Vulnerable New Yorkers’ Personal Information,” Office of the New York Attorney General, 3 August 2026, https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-sues-trump-administration-protect-vulnerable-new-yorkers. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  24. Mulvihill, Geoff, “Feds Can’t Withhold Social Service Funds From 5 Democratic States Amid Fraud Claims, Judge Rules,” Associated Press, 6 February 2026, https://apnews.com/article/social-service-funds-trump-democratic-states-536a40afc6abca52bd9a660196394333. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Mulvihill, Geoff, and Darlene Superville, “Trump Administration Threatens to Withhold SNAP Management Funds From States That Don’t Share Data,” Associated Press, 2 December 2025, https://apnews.com/article/food-aid-snap-rollins-blue-states-edf7a10ab409fe471ae81a13823484ab. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Kindy, Kimberly, “States File Lawsuit Against Trump Administration Over Efforts to Collect SNAP Recipients’ Data,” Associated Press, 28 July 2025, https://apnews.com/article/immigration-deportation-snap-trump-usda-8da2d74038ede32b65059f96c07a50ef. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; US Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, “Justice Department Sues States for Failing to Provide SNAP Data to the US Department of Agriculture,” US Department of Justice, 26 June 2026, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-states-failing-provide-snap-data-us-department-agriculture. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  25. Price, Michelle L., “Vance Holds First Meeting of a New Anti-Fraud Task Force Targeting Benefit Programs,” Associated Press, 27 March 2026, https://apnews.com/article/vance-antifraud-task-force-45cc5786a3c84cf2190f3d312fcc3a6d. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Sherman, Amy, “Trump Officials Tout Minnesota Fraud Charges. Most Started Before He Took Office,” PolitiFact, 8 January 2026, https://politifact.com/factchecks/2026/jan/08/pam-bondi/doj-minnesota-fraud-trump-biden-somalis/. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Lee, Chantelle, “Trump Calls Vance the ‘Fraud Czar.’ Here’s What We Know About the Role,” TIME, 4 April 2026, https://time.com/article/2026/04/03/trump-vance-fraud-czar/. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  26. US Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, “US Attorney Announces Federal Charges Against 47 Defendants in $250 Million Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme,” US Department of Justice, 20 September 2022, https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/us-attorney-announces-federal-charges-against-47-defendants-250-million-feeding-our-future. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, “8 Arrested in Health Care Fraud Takedown, Including Owners of Hospices that Billed Taxpayers Millions of Dollars to Serve the ‘Dying,’” US Department of Justice, 2 April 2026, https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/8-arrested-health-care-fraud-takedown-including-owners-hospices-billed-taxpayers. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Ding, Jaimie, “Healthcare Victims Lose Coverage as California and the Federal Government Battle Over Hospice Fraud,” Associated Press, 28 July 2026, https://apnews.com/article/hospice-fraud-medicare-los-angeles-trump-newsom-7c957a59aec77d69a3e50eb8cc0341a2. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  27. Feuer, Alan, “Vance Announces New Justice Dept. Fraud Post to Be ‘Run Out of the White House,’” The New York Times, 8 January 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/us/jd-vance-justice-dept-fraud-post.html. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; Richer, Alanna Durkin, “Trump’s Pick to Lead New Justice Department Unit Scrutinized as President Declares ‘War on Fraud,’” Associated Press, 25 February 2026, https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-fraud-division-colin-mcdonald-trump-91da4a174aa88706c3b6bfbd67399689. Accessed 14 September 2026. And; US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, “Grassley Supports Colin McDonald to be Fraud-Fighting Assistant Attorney General,” US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 24 March 2026, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/grassley-supports-colin-mcdonald-to-be-fraud-fighting-assistant-attorney-general. Accessed 14 September 2026.

    Since its creation, the new division has since expanded its reach, setting nationwide enforcement priorities and launching a multiagency National Fraud Detection Center to identify cases across federal programs.

  28. Moller, Zach, “Voters Want Accountability on Spending,” Third Way, 30 July 2026, https://www.thirdway.org/polling/voters-want-accountability-on-spending. Accessed 14 September 2026.

  29. Richman, Daniel, “Letting Tax Cheats Off the Hook Is Costing America,” Financial Times, 28 August 2026, https://www.ft.com/content/42009512-6b88-4808-adbb-1418995429e1. Accessed 14 September 2026.

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