Vice President Vance: Ideological Democrats refuse to support ‘common-sense’ anti-fraud efforts  

Most congressional Democrats have been “captured by far-left advocacy groups” and are refusing to support what should be the bipartisan issue of fraud prevention, Vice President JD Vance said at a press briefing in Kansas City Monday.

“Unfortunately, my view of it is that congressional Democrats have been so captured by far-left advocacy groups that they can’t even participate in something that’s as common sense as protecting the American taxpayers’ money,” Vance said in response to a question from Heartlander News. “That’s a huge indictment of congressional leadership. That’s a huge problem for the American people.”

Vance called the work for bipartisan support against fraud a “good-news, bad-news” situation, thanking the Democratic state governors and attorneys general who have partnered with the Trump administration’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which the vice president leads. He said his team has “extended many invitations” to congressional Democrats to assist in “discrete issues of the anti-fraud task force,” because he wants fraud prevention secured in law, no matter what party is in power.

“But we’re going to keep on trying to reach across the aisle because, look, whoever the president is in 2029, if it is a Democrat, I want the anti-fraud effort to continue because we can’t allow it to be normalized that the American people get stolen from by fraudsters,” Vance said. “And importantly, to the people who are going to commit fraud out there, I don’t want them checking the clock. I want them to know that whoever’s in charge of the federal government, they’re going to go after fraud as zealously as President Donald J. Trump has.”

Vance addressed Kansas City law enforcement and media Monday at the FBI Kansas City Field Office to give an update on Operation Heartland Surge under his Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. He announced the suspension of 870,000 people who were committing fraud against the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a federal loan program launched to assist small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Heartlander News also asked the vice president about Medicaid fraud. Vance said his task force is looking into a “host of Medicaid fraud,” including the illegal designation of dollars to cover transgender medical operations on minors.

“Medicaid is, I think, one of the most important programs that exists in the entire government,” he said. “It ensures that low-income Americans are able to access health care. …

“So when you steal money from Medicaid, you’re not just stealing it from the American taxpayer, which of course is a very serious problem. You’re also potentially stealing it from a kid who grew up in a circumstance like me, who needs to go see a doctor, but will find that those services don’t exist because the money has been stolen by fraudsters. We take that extremely seriously.”

Vance said his task force is investigating fraud across all 50 states, adding that “no fraud is too small,” and his team will find the criminals and prosecute them. He thanked the law enforcement officers who were present and told them to “keep up the good work.”

“I want people to know that the way to get rich in the United States of America is to build a business or build a product, not to steal from the American taxpayer,” Vance said. “That’s the message that we’re sending with this fraud task force. We’re telling people: ‘Do not defraud the taxpayer, go and get a job.’”

(Image credit: Screenshot/Fox News)