Vance launches into Trump’s ‘war on fraud’ by suspending Medicaid payments to Minnesota
WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance was given a new mission Tuesday night: waging a “war on fraud” declared by President Donald Trump in his State of the Union address.
It’s the latest addition to a portfolio that has included saving TikTok from extinction in the United States and selling Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” — and it meets Trump’s lofty expectations.
“He will get it done,” Trump promised in his speech. “And if we can uncover enough fraud, we will have a balanced budget overnight.”
Vance, joined by Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced Wednesday the first salvo in that effort: a pause in federal Medicaid reimbursements to Minnesota. The state is the subject of an ongoing fraud investigation involving child care centers and allegations of embezzlement, which has become a rallying cause for Republicans.
“We have decided to temporarily suspend certain amounts of Medicaid funding that go to the State of Minnesota in order to ensure that the State of Minnesota takes seriously its obligation to be a good steward of the American people’s tax dollars,” Vance said during an afternoon news conference.
Oz said the Trump administration informed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, of its plan, which would prevent the state from receiving a $259 million Medicaid reimbursement this month. This figure, Oz said, is based on an audit carried out during the last three months of 2025.
“We will give them the money, but we will hold it and only release it after they propose legislation on a comprehensive corrective action plan to solve the problem,” Oz said. “If Minnesota fails to clean up the systems, the state will accrue $1 billion in deferred payments this year. »
Oz added that Walz has 60 days to respond. Spokespeople for Walz — who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2024 and is a frequent target of White House criticism — did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
But after Vance and Oz’s remarks, Walz responded Wednesday on
“These cuts will be devastating for veterans, families with young children, people with disabilities and workers across our state,” he added.
Oz said, “If providers and beneficiaries are concerned about getting their money and their services, please call your governor. These are services that the governor has already paid for. We simply do not reimburse the state. To be clear, there is a rainy day fund in Minnesota, so we are very confident that people will not be hurt in Minnesota.”
Vance, responding to a question from NBC News, said he was “pretty confident” the administration had the legal authority to withhold funds appropriated by Congress.
“We’re the ones spending this money. Congress is appropriating it. We’re the ones actually making sure this money goes to the people it should go to,” Vance said. “And that includes making sure that money only goes to the people that Congress says it should go to. We shouldn’t be sending money to fraudsters.”
He added: “I repeat, we don’t want to do this. We don’t want to find ourselves in a situation where the State of Minnesota is so careless with federal taxpayer dollars that we have to tighten the screws a little bit to get them to take this fraud seriously.”
In his speech Tuesday, Trump pointed the finger at other Democratic-led states, including California, Maine and Massachusetts, and attributed $19 billion in fraud to Minnesota and its Somali community — a claim that lacks evidence. The Justice Department charged 98 people there, including 85 Somalis, with billion-dollar fraud.
“For too long, nefarious fraudsters have successfully stolen from and exploited the American people – the Trump Administration will no longer allow these sick criminals to scam hard-working Americans,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in an emailed statement Wednesday. “President Trump and his entire Administration remain committed to stopping fraud. And the Administration’s efforts have already been successful, with ongoing investigations and significant actions to ensure that U.S. dollars are not stolen, and we are just getting started.”
Vance and his office recently helped launch the Justice Department’s National Fraud Division. In an interview with Fox News earlier Wednesday, Vance said a “comprehensive, whole-of-government approach” to rooting out fraud would also involve the Treasury Department.
“The Justice Department will investigate and, if possible, throw the fraudsters in jail,” he said. “But it also means that [Treasury Secretary] Scott Bessent and some of our friends at the Treasury Department, we’re going to look at the tax records. We are going to try to understand how the American people were defrauded, how they took resources and programs that should be intended for American citizens and instead misused them.”
Vance added that he sees “a whole bunch of tools that we have that have never been used.”
When asked, Vance was less sure how much money could be recovered.
“We know that these are billions and billions of dollars that should be going to American citizens,” he said.
Vance also did not commit to the timeline for the work.
“I think next year is the year where we’re going to try to find out as much as we can and achieve as much as we can,” he said. “But it’s not going to stop after a year.”
The role of vice president can be politically compromising and difficult to manage. Under President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris has been asked to address the “root cause” of migration and take leadership on policy areas such as abortion. Both were thorny issues, and immigration in particular was seen as a challenge for Harris when she faced Trump in 2024.
In addition to keeping TikTok online and building congressional support for Trump’s legislative priorities, Vance’s portfolio includes supporting roles in Middle East diplomacy and peace negotiation efforts between Russia and Ukraine. Vance, who is seen as a likely candidate for president when Trump is term-limited in 2028, has also traveled the country more than Trump needs to promote the White House agenda.
Vance will continue that particular task on Thursday, with post-State of the Union remarks planned in Plover, Wisconsin.
