REP. BYRON DONALDS: I’m Fighting In Congress To Eliminate Fraud. As Governor, I’ll Do The Same.

Thanks to the Trump Administration’s Anti-Fraud Task Force and hard work from the Department of Justice, Americans are starting to see just how rampant fraud is in our country. I am fighting in Congress to fix it, and as Governor of Florida, I will make financial transparency and eliminating fraud a central focus of my administration. The scale of the abuse we’re finding is staggering — and comes at tremendous cost to taxpayers.

Just last month, federal prosecutors in Minnesota charged 15 people with stealing over $90 million from Medicaid programs meant to help kids with autism and people with disabilities. Earlier this week, the Justice Department had to sue New York officials and a contractor over a $10 billion home-care program where millions were siphoned off through shady deals that hurt patients and wasted taxpayer dollars. And on Tuesday, June 18, authorities in my home state of Florida arrested 12 people for orchestrating a public benefits fraud to the tune of more than $800,000. (RELATED: REPORT: FBI Floods Skid Row In Homeless Voter Fraud Investigation)

Fraud like this doesn’t just rob your checkbook, but it shatters the fundamental trust that holds our society together. Scams at this scale erode our faith in institutions. Hardworking Americans deserve better. That’s why earlier this month, I introduced landmark new legislation to supercharge our efforts to eliminate this waste and abuse.

My Tax Dollar Accountability Act is simple. It would require local and state government entities that receive federal funds to open their financial books for an automatic annual audit by the Office of Management and Budget. If they fail to open their books — or if they do, and we find fraud — then the Office of Management and Budget will be empowered to halt federal funding. In other words, if authorities in your state can’t prove that they’ve been efficient, honest stewards of taxpayer money, the flow of dollars stops.

When necessary, severe legal consequences will follow. We can only eradicate fraud by harshly punishing the fraudsters. As Governor, I will lead the charge and instruct all state law enforcement entities to prioritize identifying and eliminating fraud and encourage our state prosecutors to hand down the strongest sentences possible. (RELATED: California Faces Election Fraud Investigations Amid Major Vote Count Delays)

This legislation is just one crucial plank of an all-of-the above approach we must take to fighting fraud. I commend Vice President Vance and the Department of Justice for taking this fight head-on at the federal level. At the state level here in Florida, I believe that we have to continue investing in this mission and building on the strong progress made by Governor DeSantis, who created the Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in February 2025. As Governor, I will increase our investment into DOGE and make it a centerpiece of my first actions in office. We will also develop technology to ensure that Floridians can easily track our progress. If you live in Broward County, you should get a notification when Broward’s audit is complete — and you should be able to look through the results yourself.

Between strong law enforcement efforts, state-level investment, and smart federal legislation, we can continue crushing fraud in America. Tolerating this kind of fraud is a choice. As Governor, I’ll choose not to.

Rep. Byron Donalds, a Republican, represents Florida’s 19th Congressional District. He is currently running to be governor of Florida. 

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