Federal Budget and Waste

In a Fox News interview following President Trump’s 2026 State of the Union, Vice President JD Vance laid out his role leading a new administration 'war on fraud' across federal programs, with a particular focus on Medicaid and daycare subsidies he claims are being improperly used by illegal immigrants. Vance said Trump has directed him to coordinate a 'full, whole‑of‑government approach' that will lean on the Justice and Treasury Departments to investigate where benefits are being 'stolen' and to map how much fraud exists, conceding 'nobody has ever tried to take a systematic look' at the total. He asserted, without presenting data, that 'billions and billions of dollars' in Medicaid funds are going to 'illegal aliens' and alleged some officials may have grown wealthy or taken campaign donations while being 'complicit' in fraud. The vice president described the next year as an intensive discovery phase to 'uncover as much as possible,' but said the effort will continue beyond that, casting it as central to the administration’s promise to put 'American citizens' ahead of non‑citizens. The interview also doubled as a political attack line, with Vance criticizing Democrats who stayed seated during Trump’s call in the speech for lawmakers to prioritize citizens over illegal immigrants, framing their reaction as a 'sad commentary' on the opposition party.