WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has begun fleshing out the arrangements for a new assistant attorney general post to oversee fraud investigations nationwide, with a tweak from a previous announcement that the official will report to the deputy attorney general rather than the White House.
Vice President JD Vance announced the creation of the slot earlier this month, in the wake of widespread fraud detected in Minnesota. Nearly 100 people have been charged with stealing billions from federal programs in Minnesota.
Vance said the new assistant attorney general would explore fraud allegations in California, Ohio and elsewhere. He also said the prosecutor would report to him and President Donald Trump because of the importance of the mission. But department prosecutors traditionally work independently of the White House to avoid the appearance of political influence in the investigations.
The Justice Department laid out the formal duties of the post in a letter Jan. 16 to Congress, which USA TODAY obtained. The new assistant attorney general will oversee fraud investigations that stretch across jurisdictions, provide direction to U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and coordinate with other agencies to dispute and dismantle fraud schemes, the letter said.
The proposed post will be one of 11 assistant attorneys general that Congress has already authorized for the department and it won’t need additional funding, according to the letter from Jolene Ann Lauria, the assistant attorney general for administration.
The assistant attorney general atop National Fraud Enforcement Division will replace the slot for the Tax Division, which the administration eliminated, the letter said. Attorney General Pam Bondi has the discretion to place the former tax chief in the new fraud slot, the letter said.
Vice President JD Vance speaks during a news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on Jan. 8, 2026 in Washington, DC. Vance joined White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to address several topics including the welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota and yesterday’s fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent during a confrontation in Minneapolis.
Vance had announced the fraud chief would report to him and Trump at the White House because of their interest in combating fraud. But the department’s new organizational chart shows the fraud chief reporting to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, similar to the heads of the criminal and national security divisions.
“Number one, it will be run out of the White House under the supervision of me and the president of United States,” Vance said on Jan. 8.
Neither the Justice Department nor Vance’s office replied immediately to requests for comment about the new post.
In the Minnesota investigation, a prosecutor said in December an estimated half of the $18 billion in federal funds that supported 14 Minnesota-run programs since 2018 may have been stolen.
The Department of Health and Human Services has frozen $10 billion in federal child care and family assistance funds to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York because of fraud concerns.
Vance is traveling to Minneapolis on Jan. 22 to hold a roundtable with community members and deliver remarks about immigration operations.
A significant portion of the people charged with fraud in Minnesota are from Somalia. Trump and Vance have said stricter enforcement against immigrants without legal authority to be in the country remains targeted at deporting criminals.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Justice Department outlines duties for new fraud investigator