Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, appointed by former President Trump and sworn in on April 1, 2026, is leading a nationwide crackdown on fraud targeting taxpayer dollars. Reporting to Vice President JD Vance, who heads the White House’s new Anti-Fraud Task Force, McDonald has been traveling across the United States to implement initiatives and partnerships aimed at combating fraud.

In a recent 30-minute interview with the Daily Caller, McDonald emphasized the scale of the problem and the administration’s commitment to addressing it: “The problem is big, and so we’re building a big solution.” He highlighted the importance of inter-agency communication, warning that without coordination among the Department of Housing & Urban Development, Small Business Administration, and Education Department, fraudsters could exploit gaps: “Fraudsters thrive when nobody talks to each other.”

In May 2026, the Department of Education identified $60 million in fraudulent student loan applications. More recently, on Thursday, August 3, in Columbia, McDonald announced that the Department of Justice had uncovered $350 million in fraud across seven southeastern states.

McDonald also noted the administration’s efforts to ensure adequate resources for combating fraud: “They are doing the things necessary to send us referrals, make sure we have large enough teams of agents and analysts. They’re there to make sure the executive branch is doing everything we can to combat fraudsters.”