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Trump to formally launch fraud task force, White House says

By Thomson Reuters Mar 16, 2026 | 7:59 AM

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Monday to formally ​launch a task force to ‌prove fraud nationwide led by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.

Trump and Vance are scheduled to sign ‌the ​order at 3:30 p.m. ⁠Eastern Time (1930 GMT) ⁠at the White House, according to the president’s schedule.

Trump previously tasked Vance with leading administration efforts to investigate ​fraud in Minnesota. The forthcoming order “will investigate fraud across the country,” Leavitt ⁠told reporters at ⁠the White House.

The New York ​Post, citing a document describing the order, ​singled out California, Illinois, New York, ‌Maine and Colorado as U.S. states with “insufficient” fraud oversight. Reuters has not verified the report.

Vance last month criticized Minnesota ⁠Governor Tim Walz, who was Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ running mate in 2024, over ⁠his ‌efforts to combat fraud and ⁠froze than a quarter of ​a ‌billion dollars of Medicaid ​funding for ⁠the state.

Walz has slammed the Trump administration for what he called “a campaign of retribution.”

(Reporting by Katharine Jackson and Nandita Bose; writing by Susan Heavey; editing by ​David Ljunggren)