President Donald Trump on Monday created a new federal task force aimed at rooting out fraud in government benefit programs and named Vice President J.D. Vance as its chairman.

The executive order, signed in the Oval Office, establishes the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and directs federal agencies to coordinate efforts to identify and stop waste, fraud, and abuse in programs funded by taxpayers.

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson will serve as vice chairman of the task force, while White House aide Stephen Miller will act as a senior adviser.

According to a White House fact sheet, the initiative will focus on programs providing cash assistance, food aid, housing support, and medical benefits. The task force will develop a national strategy designed to strengthen oversight and prevent fraudulent activity across federally funded programs.

Officials said the group will work to improve eligibility verification systems, introduce stronger pre-payment controls, detect high-risk fraud trends, and dismantle networks involved in defrauding government programs.

The order also calls for federal agencies to help establish minimum anti-fraud standards, including documentation and proof-of-identity requirements, auditing procedures, and other safeguards intended to prevent misuse of benefits.

White House staff secretary Will Scharf said the effort is meant to address what the administration describes as widespread fraud in federally funded programs, including cases uncovered in states such as Minnesota and California.

“This is going to launch a whole-of-government approach to rooting out the very serious problem of fraud in federally funded programs around the country,” Scharf said.

Vance said the task force will direct federal agencies to focus on protecting taxpayer dollars and ensuring that benefits reach their intended recipients.

“What this executive order does is force the entire apparatus of the federal government to do two things: stop the fraud of the American taxpayer, and make sure that the benefits that ought, by right, go to American citizens, go to American citizens, and not to fraudsters,” the vice president said.

The administration has previously highlighted allegations of fraud tied to programs in Minnesota, including cases involving funds intended for services for autistic children.

Officials noted that a portion of federal Medicaid funding to Minnesota had recently been paused while authorities review reported irregularities in the program.

A spokesperson for Vance said the scale of fraud affecting government programs threatens the long-term stability of the country’s social safety net and emphasized that the new task force will focus on identifying and prosecuting individuals responsible for defrauding taxpayers.