Team Trump Says Welfare Fraud Is So Vast It Could Wipe Out The Federal Deficit

Stephen Miller says the scale of welfare fraud is so massive that eliminating it alone could balance the entire federal budget

“The amount that has been fleeced from us is in the hundreds of billions of dollars.”

“We could balance the federal budget if the only dollars that went out of the treasury went to individuals who were properly, lawfully, correctly eligible to receive them.”

This should infuriate EVERY taxpayer.

Vice President JD Vance tells reporters that in “just two months” the anti-fraud task force he has led for the Trump administration has “exposed billions of dollars in benefits that have been stolen from the American people.” During the roundtable, Vance claims the task force has deferred funds from fraudsters seeking small business loans and Medicaid reimbursements and recovered funds “stolen” from COVID relief programs. Vance says, “We’re protecting the American taxpayers who shouldn’t have their money stolen by fraudsters and of course we’re protecting the people who need these services.”

Stephen Miller says the scale of welfare fraud is SO MASSIVE that eliminating it alone could balance the ENTIRE federal budget

“The amount that has been fleeced from us is in the HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of dollars.”

“We could balance the federal budget if the only dollars that… pic.twitter.com/15B8h7GLDm

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 26, 2026

The vice president was joined by Andrew Ferguson (the task force chair), Stephen Miller and some 15 state attorneys general. Vance: In just two months, we exposed billions of dollars in benefits that had been stolen from the American people. We referred over $22 billion in fraudulent small business loans back to the treasury for collection. We deferred more than $1.3 billion in fraudulent Medicaid reimbursements that were coming from various states, particularly California…. We recovered taxpayer funds from the $135 billion stolen after the floodgates were open in the immediate aftermath of COVID. We have found $6.3 billion in suspected fraudulent government contracts, which were mostly awarded during the last administration and that has stopped. Finally, we blocked $60 million in student aid fraud that should have gone to young people trying to get an education, but instead we’re going to fraudsters (Full video: C-SPAN).

From the White House: This is a direct offensive against every fraudulent scheme preying on hardworking Americans — and the results are already staggering (White House).

More from Ward Clark at Red State: So, the question is this: Why has this been allowed to go on this long? It staggers belief that there wasn’t some indication as to how bad things were before now (Red State).

Vice President JD Vance Holds a State Attorneys General Roundtable on Anti-Fraud Initiatives
May 26, 2026

Vice President JD Vance’s Anti-Fraud Task Force just dropped the HARD NUMBERS from the first 50 days.

– $22 billion in fraudulent small business loans referred for collection.
– $1.3 billion in bogus Medicaid payments deferred.
– $6.3 billion in shady government contracts stopped.
– $60 million in student aid scams blocked.

Those all don’t even include in the SIX MONTH hold on fraudulent hospice providers, recovery from the $135 billion post-COVID theft, and 450 charges, convictions, and sentences nationwide including major Medicaid busts in Minnesota, Arizona, and California.

This is REAL ACCOUNTABILITY. Watch the full roundtable to see the complete picture.

Source: https://gellerreport.com/2026/05/team-trump-says-welfare-fraud-is-so-vast-it-could-wipe-out-the-federal-deficit.html/