A White House task force led by Vice President JD Vance claims to have found $250 billion in fraud since President Trump’s second term began. However, a New York Times analysis finds the figures are overstated, lack specificity, and include cases from the Biden administration. The task force’s so-called fraud ledger, published in August, categorizes its actions into three types: uncovered, stopped, and enforced fraud, totaling over $300 billion.

But there is no publicly available breakdown, and officials refuse to itemize the schemes to protect ongoing investigations. Experts, including former Government Accountability Office head David Walker, say the numbers are unverified assertions. While the task force has identified real fraud cases, its opaque reporting may undermine transparency.

Independent estimates suggest the federal government loses between $233 billion and $521 billion annually to fraud.