Husted joins Vice President JD Vance at White House to discuss combating fraud and protecting taxpayers

“Every dollar that is misused because of waste, fraud and abuse is a dollar we cannot invest in our local communities and strengthening our economy.” WASHINGTON – Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) today joined Vice President JD Vance, the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and other lawmakers at the White House for a roundtable discussion on efforts to eliminate fraud and abuse in the federal government and protect American taxpayers. “Every dollar that is misused because of waste, fraud and abuse is a dollar we cannot invest in our local communities and strengthening our economy. And with a national debt at nearly $40 trillion, there is no money to waste. Our government has turned a blind eye to fraudsters for too long, but we have strengthened protections in the recent budget bill and under Vice President Vance’s leadership, the Trump administration is attacking this problem more aggressively than any other,” said Husted. The conversation focused on how to improve data sharing, mandate stricter penalties for egregious fraud and increase funding for anti-fraud efforts. Husted is leading several bills in the U.S. Senate to safeguard American taxpayer dollars and eliminate waste and fraud: The Preventing Deepfake Scams Act . This bipartisan, bicameral bill would address data and identity theft or fraud fueled by artificial intelligence (AI)—commonly known as “deep fake” scams—by establishing a task force on AI in the financial services sector. The Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act . This bill would require strong safeguards to prevent student aid fraud. Specifically, it would target “ghost students,” a stolen or fabricated identity that impersonates a student to enroll in classes to fraudulently obtain federal and state financial aid. The Clawing back Lapsed Obligations from State Emergency programs (CLOSE) Act . This bill would cancel the unspent tax dollars assigned during the COVID-19 pandemic for emergency unemployment payments and terminate the program. Husted is also a co-chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) subcommittee on Education fraud . This task force aims to tackle fraud in federal funding in education systems. Additionally, Husted is a cosponsor of the Protecting American Taxpayers Act, a bipartisan legislative package containing 17 initiatives to recover stolen funds, strengthen anti-fraud safeguards and better protect taxpayer dollars. The package includes Husted’s Preventing Deepfake Scams Act.