Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

Americans See Fraud Everywhere

(Photo via Giorgio Trovato / Unsplash)

Americans know fraud is bleeding their budgets dry, and a new national poll proves they’re paying close attention.

A recent survey of registered voters found 87% are concerned about fraud and misuse of taxpayer money in government programs, with 83% saying it drives up their taxes and costs a great deal or a fair amount. Far from a fringe view, it cuts across parties, ages and regions, with even stronger support among the 71% extremely likely to vote this November.

As I testified on April 15 before the House Oversight Committee, government fraud isn’t some abstract line item. It causes hardworking families to pay higher taxes and face higher costs while scarce resources are diverted from those who truly need assistance. I described to the committee how state financial officers are indispensable for accomplishing the mission given to President Donald Trump’s anti-fraud task force in Washington, from where federal dollars are sent but then often fall into the wrong hands.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent put it bluntly: up to 10% of the federal budget, or hundreds of billions annually, gets stolen through waste and fraud. The Government Accountability Office pegs annual losses between $233 billion and $521 billion.

Every dollar lost that way shows up as higher grocery bills, steeper rents or tighter family budgets. When 53% of voters blame U.S. government policy, spending or taxing for the cost-of-living crisis, and 65% say the wrong priorities or waste are the core problem, they’re pointing straight at unchecked spending and lax safeguards.

State financial officers see this every day and often stop it before it spirals. State treasurers stop it upfront through payment authorization and cash management oversight, while auditors expose it post-fact via independent performance audits — protecting programs meant for kids, the elderly and struggling families, before Washington borrows or prints money just to keep up.

Our recent Oversight Report tallied $28 billion protected last year across 28 states, including $5.7 billion in waste, fraud and abuse uncovered by 40 treasurers, auditors and comptrollers.

Kentucky Auditor Allison Ball exposed $800 million in wrongful Medicaid payments. Utah Auditor Tina Cannon turned a whistleblower tip into tighter cash controls and clawed back $49.2 million in unreported Medicaid rebates.

The revelations aren’t lucky breaks, but instead the result of elected officials prioritizing their voters over the bureaucracy.

Contrast that with Minnesota, where no elected treasurer has existed since 1998. Voters bought the pitch that the job was just clerical work worth scrapping to save $1 million a year.

The real bill came later: $250 million stolen in the Feeding Our Future scam alone, with phantom meals funding mansions and, in some cases, possibly reaching overseas criminal or terrorist networks. Daycare rackets and fake autism therapy drained millions more. Whistleblowers waved flags for years, but agency claims of “adequate federal processes” let the checks keep flowing.

No single elected watchdog had the mandate to hit pause and demand answers.

The poll underscores why this matters now. Two-thirds of voters have heard recent fraud stories and 77% say it’s made them more concerned. They believe only some or none of attempted fraud gets stopped, and 70% want tougher oversight over softer enforcement. Families feel it when 43% expect the economy to worsen next year and 45% report high anxiety about long-term financial security.

Every dollar recovered is one less dollar the government has to finance with borrowing at taxpayer expense. Washington has the tools but needs state partners to make them work.

States offer street-level proof of what succeeds: front-end eligibility checks by treasurers, back-end audits by elected watchdogs. Link federal muscle with state partners and better information-sharing where appropriate, and you catch fraud early, before it funds terrorists or luxury cars instead of kids’ meals.

It’s a common sense approach that’s the exact opposite of partisan point-scoring.

Voters trust state financial officers most on money matters because they deliver results without new taxes or spending. The path forward mirrors what works in states: Congress should mandate real-time eligibility verification, accelerate AI fraud detection, performance-based funding, and a public dashboard — strengthen safeguards in high-risk areas.

States like Montana recovered more than $23.3 million in fake health claims last year. Scale that nationally and billions return to taxpayers.

Fraud thrives where accountability is absent. Americans see through the excuses and want this invisible tax eliminated.

Pair federal resolve with state financial officers and watch affordability return, one safeguarded dollar at a time.

OJ Oleka is CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.