{"id":2607944,"date":"2026-05-28T15:40:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vances-anti-fraud-task-force-calls-out-cultural-decline-driving-the-theft-epidemic\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T15:41:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:41:57","slug":"vances-anti-fraud-task-force-calls-out-cultural-decline-driving-the-theft-epidemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vances-anti-fraud-task-force-calls-out-cultural-decline-driving-the-theft-epidemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Vance&#8217;s Anti-Fraud Task Force Blasts Cultural Decline Driving Theft"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fvances-anti-fraud-task-force-calls-out-cultural-decline-driving-the-theft-epidemic%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2607944&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The White House Anti-Fraud Task Force led by Vice President J.D. Vance is described as \u201cworking as intended,\u201d focusing on catching past and ongoing fraud, pursuing prosecutions, and adding safeguards to prevent future abuse-such as claims that it has blocked $60 million in student-aid fraud.<\/p>\n<p>However, the article emphasizes that the task force\u2019s public message is moving beyond enforcement statistics. at an anti-fraud roundtable with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dems-include-money-for-abortion-providers-in-1-9-trillion-covid-aid-package\/\" title=\"Dems Include Money for Abortion Providers in .9 Trillion COVID Aid Package\">state attorneys general<\/a>, the recurring theme was \u201chigh-trust\u201d social norms-framing fraud as evidence of cultural decline and a breakdown of an \u201chonor system\u201d that government benefits programs rely on. speakers argue that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-hate-anyone-who-doesnt-love-crime-and-fraud-as-much-as-they-do-even-leftists-10\/\" title=\"Democrats Hate A Bunch Of Democrats, And It&#039;s Hilarious\">anti-fraud work<\/a> is also about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/influencer-provides-evidence-he-was-offered-money-to-spread-anti-trump-lies-about-jan-6\/\" title=\"\u201cInfluencer\u201d Provides Evidence He Was Offered Money to Spread Anti-Trump Lies About Jan 6\">restoring social trust<\/a> and sending cultural signals about how unacceptable they consider it to steal from programs meant for the needy,sick,elderly,and others.<\/p>\n<p>The discussion also highlights a political contrast: anti-fraud systems that were reportedly active under previous administrations were said to have been turned off during the Biden administration, and are now being turned back on. The piece further notes the event mostly became conversation between the White House and Republican-led states, as Democrat attorneys general largely did not attend.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The White House task force led by Vice President J.D. Vance to target fraud in government programs is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/releases\/2026\/05\/trump-administrations-full-scale-war-on-fraud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">working as intended<\/a>: It\u2019s catching past and current fraud, pushing for prosecutions, and limiting future fraud with new procedural safeguards. The numbers, so far, aren\u2019t the story. Vance said this week that the administration\u2019s anti-fraud effort had \u201cblocked $60 million in student aid fraud,\u201d for example, a number you can compare to $39 trillion in federal debt.<\/p>\n<p>But the task force is also reaching beyond those basic goals to talk about something else, and the <em>something else<\/em> is becoming unusually important.<\/p>\n<p>In a famous letter written in 1798, President John Adams <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinecoursesblog.hillsdale.edu\/our-constitution-was-made-only-for-a-moral-and-religious-people\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> that the Constitution was organized around an unstated premise. \u201cAvarice, Ambition, Revenge or Gallantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net,\u201d he wrote. \u201cOur Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At a White House anti-fraud roundtable this week with state attorneys general, the recurring theme in the brief public portion of the discussion was <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EricLDaugh\/status\/2059341015522164774\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">about<\/a> the whale going through the net. <\/p>\n<p>Andrew Ferguson, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/about-ftc\/commissioners-staff\/andrew-n-ferguson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chairman<\/a> of the Federal Trade Commission who is serving as the vice chair of the task force, started that discussion. \u201cOur benefits programs, and our whole society, was designed for a high-trust people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>This has been the subtext of the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force, and it rose to the surface this week to become the text: cultural decline, then crime. A problem in government is a problem of society. \u201cIt\u2019s become clear that huge groups of people in this country are taking advantage of our long-standing culture of trust to enrich themselves at the expense of the American people,\u201d Ferguson said.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson Speaks at Anti-Fraud Roundtable\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IIpZWIUndwM?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Discussing cultural decline, Ferguson also made this <em>interesting<\/em> point: \u201cFor agencies that had <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >robust anti-fraud systems<\/a> that the Biden administration turned off, the task force and the agencies have turned them back on.\u201d Think about the significance of a Democrat administration choosing to shut down fraud-prevention measures.<\/p>\n<p>An effort against widespread fraud in government services, Ferguson said, is about \u201crestoring social trust in America.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BGL881xe0EA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expanded<\/a> on that theme. \u201cAll of the systems in our country, whether you\u2019re talking about voting, whether you\u2019re talking about entitlements, whether you\u2019re talking about welfare benefits, were set up based on the honor system,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThey were set up based on the idea that you could trust the average person, through their own morality, to abide by the rules and comply with the law.\u201d That\u2019s the thing that isn\u2019t working: people behaving honorably because of their own morality.<\/p>\n<p>Fighting fraud, the task force that Vance is leading is sending cultural signals about what we expect as a people. \u201cWe are here to take it personally when someone decides to take money from a program designed to give money, food, health care to the needy, the sick, and the elderly,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/fraud\/staff-profile\/assistant-attorney-general\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald<\/a> said. <\/p>\n<p>In many ways, the discussion happening in the task force isn\u2019t politically conservative at all. It operates on the premise that government programs that give people food and money are good, and that fraud has to be prevented so needy people can get their government services. But the work of the task force is increasingly centered on a culturally conservative discussion about personal morality. As McDonald said, we\u2019re taking it personally when our neighbors choose to steal from us.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the roundtable discussion with state attorneys general mostly became a discussion between the White House and Republican-led states, as Democrat attorneys general <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/news\/politics-government\/capitol-alert\/article315899697.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declined to attend<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You can watch the entire public portion of the discussion here:<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Vice President JD Vance Holds a State Attorneys General Roundtable on Anti-Fraud Initiatives\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BGL881xe0EA?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<hr>\n<p>      Chris Bray is a senior correspondent at The Federalist and a former infantry sergeant in the U.S. Army. He has a history PhD from the University of California Los Angeles, not that it did him any good. He also posts on Substack, at &#8220;Tell Me How This Ends,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/chrisbray.substack.com\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anti-fraud task force led by J.D. Vance is working: catching fraud, pushing prosecutions, and adding safeguards-numbers aren\u2019t the main point<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2086,"featured_media":2607945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/vance-fraud.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[70499,80415,34511],"class_list":["post-2607944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-anti-fraud","tag-cultural-decline","tag-task-force"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/vance-fraud.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2607944"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2607948,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607944\/revisions\/2607948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2607945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2607944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2607944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2607944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}