'Getting money back is very hard': JD Vance reveals $230B in suspected fraud
WASHINGTON, DC: Vice President JD Vance said roughly $230 billion in fraud has been uncovered since President Donald Trump took office, while warning that much of the money may be difficult to recover.
The vice president said his fraud task force has instead focused on stopping federal payments to suspected fraudsters, with about $55 billion in payments halted.
JD Vance says fraud follows a clear pattern
Vance discussed the figures in an interview with Fox News Digital, published on Sunday, August 9. He said his team had found a pattern involving certain migrant communities.
"You definitely see patterns regarding certain communities," Vance said.
He described how one person might learn how to exploit a program before the information spreads through the same community.
Vance said some people discovered they could claim benefits for children without having children because, he said, "there's no verification."
He said the task force's most effective step has been preventing payments from being made in the first place.
"Getting money back is very hard," Vance said. "Once it's gone out the door, it's very hard to get it back."
He said the program could then be "tapped into by the same members of that community."
The task force was created after fraud became a major issue in Minneapolis earlier this year.
🚨 “MIND BLOWING FRAUD” Fox News’ Laura Ingraham STUNNED by Fraud Task Force’s discovery of $236 BILLION of fraud
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) August 5, 2026
“You said this is the tip of the iceberg. What do you expect the socialists would do with these large government bureaucracies that are way too open to be exploited… pic.twitter.com/4JigRMws1L
Vance is working with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr Mehmet Oz and other agencies, the report said.
Federal payments to hundreds of hospice and home health agencies suspected of fraud in Minnesota and California have been suspended in recent months.
JD Vance says stopping payments matters most
The scale of the fraud is paired with a problem Vance said is harder to solve: recovering money after it has already been spent.
"What we've done most effectively is actually just stop the money from going out the door in the first place," Vance said.
He called that "the only real way to ensure the American people don't lose it."
Medicaid Fraud is more than the theft of taxpayer money, it often means Pennsylvanians are not getting the care they desperately need. That’s why we will continue to prosecute those who exploit the system to the fullest. pic.twitter.com/JQQStduu2J
— PA Attorney General Dave Sunday (@PAAttorneyGen) August 5, 2026
The Justice Department also announced last week that federal and state law enforcement had charged 19 defendants accused of schemes involving more than $4 million in Medicare and Medicaid claims.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced a plea agreement involving the final defendant in a previously charged 21-defendant case tied to more than $1.7 million in claims.
Minneapolis fraud probe widened
The fraud crackdown followed reports and social media coverage from independent journalist Nick Shirley at the end of last year.
His reporting exposed a network of daycare centers he alleged were fraudulent and operated mostly by Somali immigrants.
The reports prompted action from the Trump administration. Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem deployed DHS and ICE agents in Minneapolis to catch and deport Somali immigrants who were in the country illegally.
The deployment led to clashes between residents and federal agents and, later, reportedly sparked riots across the Twin Cities.
