Trump And Vance Just Put A Price On Exposing Government Fraud
President Donald Trump has a new pitch for Americans who know where taxpayer money is being stolen: Turn in the fraudsters — and collect a cut.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance announced a $25 million whistleblower incentive program Tuesday, adding a financial reward to the administration’s campaign against fraud in federal programs.
The idea is straightforward: Give people with inside information a reason to come forward before more taxpayer dollars disappear.
“If anybody turns anybody in… you get a 1 percent commission, and I think that will be amazing, because the kind of money that’s been stolen is trillions from this country,” Trump said in the Oval Office, according to The Hill.
The Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program will offer eligible tipsters up to $30,000 for information leading to a successful fraud conviction or a significant federal enforcement action. The Justice Department will administer the initiative, WFXB reported.
Trump said Americans can submit tips through fraud.gov. He also said he would personally resolve competing claims to rewards through binding arbitration.
“In other words, I’ll determine whether or not the person is deserving…and I will be very generous,” he said, according to The Hill.
A Reward For Speaking Up
Conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley joined Trump and Vance for the announcement after drawing national attention with videos investigating suspected childcare fraud in Minnesota.
Fox News reported that Shirley would receive $10,000.
The program expands the work of Vance’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which Trump established in March. Its responsibilities include improving eligibility checks, disrupting fraud networks and preventing improper payments before federal money goes out the door.
“The president has said it must stop,” Vance said of fraud, according to The Hill. “It is stopping, and if you want to help us stop it, you get to share in the rewards now, thanks to what the president of the United States has done.”
Billions At Stake — And Concrete Results
The scale of the problem makes a stronger response overdue.
A Government Accountability Office study estimated annual federal fraud losses of $233 billion to $521 billion, using fiscal 2018–2022 data. That estimate predates the new program and underscores how much taxpayer money is at risk.
The administration’s enforcement record already includes substantial seizures and blocked payments.
In June 2025, the Justice Department announced its largest healthcare fraud takedown: charges against 324 defendants tied to schemes involving more than $14.6 billion in alleged intended losses.
Authorities seized more than $245 million in cash and other assets. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also reported preventing more than $4 billion in false and fraudulent claims from being paid and suspending or revoking 205 providers’ billing privileges.
Those figures represent different results: alleged attempted fraud, assets seized and payments blocked — rather than $14.6 billion recovered.
Federal prosecutors have also secured serious punishment in Minnesota’s long-running Feeding Our Future case.
In May, the Justice Department announced a 500-month prison sentence for nonprofit founder Aimee Bock over her leading role in a $250 million scheme exploiting a federally funded child nutrition program. Prosecutors proved that participants used fabricated meal counts and attendance records to obtain money intended to feed children.
The new whistleblower program gives that enforcement effort another potential source of evidence: people who see the cheating firsthand.
Rewarding credible information that produces results is a welcome step toward protecting taxpayers — and the Americans who actually depend on those programs.









