Vance highlighted the massive fraud scandal in Minnesota during his remarks opening the meeting, saying that it “illustrates well” what has been happening across “whole layers of our government.”
“This is not just theft of the American people’s money,” Vance said. “This is also theft of critical services that the American people rely on.”
The Justice Department alleged in December that, since 2018, millions of federal dollars spent on 14 Minnesota-run programs may have been stolen through scams. The Minnesota social services programs affected include child nutrition, housing services, and support for families to help children with autism.
Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller stated during the roundtable that the administration has been unable to get the names of people enrolled in Minnesota’s SNAP program, which the administration has demanded Minnesota’s leadership turn over for review.
The vice president said the fraud scandal resulted in two tragedies: taxpayer money intended for social programs was stolen, and families who needed services were unable to access funds.
“Unfortunately, that story, while it’s very concrete and very obvious what we’re seeing in Minneapolis, it is replayed again and again and again across many states and across many different programs,” Vance said. “It has to stop.”
Through the task force, which was first announced by Trump during his State of the Union speech and established by an executive order on March 16, Vance said the administration will “turn back on” anti-fraud protections the Biden administration removed and will take a “whole of government approach.”
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, co-chair of the fraud task force, said the panel would take a comprehensive national strategy to combat fraud of federal benefits programs and will assist the Justice Department in prosecuting fraud cases.
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“In doing so, we will restore the social trust that has been lost because of mismanagement and fraud,” Ferguson said.
The roundtable event was attended by several Trump administration officials, including Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, among others.
