Vice President JD Vance announced the creation of a new Assistant Attorney General position at the Department of Justice to spearhead a nationwide effort to combat fraud targeting federal programs, with an initial focus on Minnesota amid a surge of high-profile investigations.
Speaking during a White House press briefing, Vance said the new role would carry nationwide jurisdiction and coordinate aggressive enforcement across states where systemic fraud is suspected.
“We are creating a new assistant attorney general position who will have nationwide jurisdiction over the issue of fraud,” Vance said. “That person’s efforts will start and focus primarily in Minnesota, but it is going to be a nationwide effort, because, unfortunately, the American people have been defrauded in a very nationwide way.”
According to a White House fact sheet, the new DOJ division will enforce federal criminal and civil laws against fraud involving federal programs, federally funded benefits, nonprofits, businesses, and private citizens. The Assistant Attorney General will oversee investigations and prosecutions, coordinate interagency fraud initiatives, and advise senior DOJ officials on policy reforms designed to prevent systemic abuse.
Minnesota has become the epicenter of the administration’s fraud response. Federal prosecutors have charged 98 defendants in fraud-related cases in the state, securing 64 convictions to date. Authorities have issued more than 1,750 subpoenas, executed over 130 search warrants, and conducted approximately 1,000 witness interviews as part of the sweeping probe.
Vance explained the issue as one that directly harms American families who rely on government assistance programs.
“If you’re a young parent struggling to afford childcare in the United States of America, there are programs that we have to make it easier for your kids to get in daycare, for your kids to get in preschool,” Vance said. “Those programs should go to American citizens, not be defrauded by people who make it harder for you to get the access to the resources you need.”
He added that the administration has activated a “major interagency task force” to address fraud that intersects with immigration violations and misuse of public funds, emphasizing that similar schemes have been identified beyond Minnesota, including in Ohio and California.
Multiple federal agencies are participating in the coordinated enforcement effort. The Department of Homeland Security has deployed roughly 2,000 agents to Minnesota in recent weeks, arresting more than 1,000 criminal illegal aliens as part of what it calls Operation Twin Shield. DHS officials say the operation has identified more than 1,300 instances of suspected fraud in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area.
The Department of Health and Human Services has frozen payments to 14 Medicaid programs in Minnesota and launched investigations into Head Start and childcare services. The Small Business Administration has suspended nearly 6,900 borrowers in the state and halted all grant payments to Minnesota. Other participating agencies include the Department of Agriculture and the SBA.
Among the cases under investigation are alleged fraud schemes highlighted by citizen journalist Nick Shirley, whose viral video documented shuttered childcare and healthcare facilities that reportedly received millions in federal funding. Vance praised Shirley’s work during the briefing, calling it “far more useful journalism” than that produced by recent Pulitzer Prize winners. Shirley has claimed his reporting uncovered more than $110 million in suspected fraud in a single day.
Vance also delivered pointed criticism of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz when asked about the state’s role in the controversy.
“Tim Walz is a joke. His entire administration has been a joke,” Vance said. “He’s a guy who has enabled fraud, and maybe, in fact, has participated in fraud. That’s what this new assistant attorney general position is going to find out.”
The fraud investigations were a major factor behind the Trump administration’s decision to freeze $10 billion in childcare and family assistance funding to five Democrat-led states: Minnesota, California, Illinois, Colorado, and New York. HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill said the freeze was intended to ensure federal funds are used lawfully and not exploited.
“Families who rely on child care and family assistance programs deserve confidence that these resources are used lawfully and for their intended purpose,” O’Neill said.
Under the administration’s “Defend the Spend” initiative, states must now provide detailed justifications and receipts for all childcare-related expenditures. HHS is also enforcing a federal law requiring immigration sponsors to repay Medicaid benefits used by immigrants they sponsor.
The administration has signaled that California could be next. President Donald Trump recently wrote on Truth Social that “The Fraud Investigation of California has begun,” accusing Gov. Gavin Newsom of presiding over systemic corruption. According to the Department of Government Efficiency, California accounted for $305 million of an estimated $382 million in fraudulent unemployment payments nationwide since 2020. Federal prosecutors have also indicted former Newsom chief of staff Dana Williamson on 23 federal counts, including conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and making false statements.
With the creation of the new Assistant Attorney General position, the White House is signaling that its fraud crackdown will not be limited to one state — and that aggressive federal enforcement will remain a central pillar of the administration’s domestic agenda.
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This job will rate up among the labors of Hercules. Whoever takes this position will need the aggression of General Patton.