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Vice President urges Congress to codify fraud-fighting measures, cites $230 billion identified
Summary
At a federal task-force kickoff, the Vice President said the effort has identified $230 billion in fraud and stopped $56 billion in improper payments, and he urged Congress to require state–federal data sharing, increase penalties, and fund enforcement.
The Vice President opened the task-force kickoff by framing program fraud as “a dual victim crime,” saying it harms both taxpayers and the people who rely on public benefits. He said the task force has "been able to identify $230,000,000,000 of fraud just since the fraud task force was set up" and that it has stopped "$56,000,000,000 in fraudulent payments" that otherwise would have gone to fraudsters.
He told lawmakers in the room that the task force's work will remain limited unless Congress acts to codify anti-fraud measures and improve data access across state and federal systems. The Vice President called for "data sharing" requirements for programs such as SNAP and argued for "stiffer penalties for the people that we're successfully prosecuting," saying criminal sentences under current statutes often fall short of deterring large-scale fraud.
The Vice President also asked for relatively modest appropriations to expand the task force, saying the program returns multiple dollars for every federal dollar invested. He concluded by introducing the task force co-chair, Andrew Ferguson, to speak about concrete harms and program fixes.
