For years, the issue of fraud has often been brushed aside as merely a talking point from the Trump administration and conservatives in general. However, a new report from state financial officers makes it increasingly difficult to overlook. Across 28 states, auditors have reported identifying and halting an astounding $5.7 billion in waste, fraud, and abuse in just one year.
These findings cover a range of areas, including Medicaid eligibility systems, local government budgets, payroll controls, and nonprofit oversight. The money didn’t just vanish; it was tracked, documented, and stopped once someone took the initiative to investigate.
The State Financial Officers Foundation’s 2025 Oversight Report details what 40 state treasurers, auditors, and comptrollers discovered by digging into eligibility systems, payment processes, and local government spending. The report clearly lays out the numbers for all to see:
“In 2025, SFOF members: Protected over $28 billion in state funds. Stopped approximately $5.7 billion in waste, fraud, and abuse. Oversaw $22.3 billion in investment earnings and unclaimed property returned directly to citizens.”
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The report doesn’t classify the entire $28 billion as fraud. Instead, it highlights $5.7 billion specifically tied to waste, fraud, and abuse, distinguishing this amount from the $22.3 billion in investment earnings and unclaimed property returned to citizens. However, that $5.7 billion identified in just one year across 28 states isn’t a coincidence. It underscores what comes to light when someone finally takes a closer look at where the money really went. For instance, in Florida, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis’ office uncovered spending levels that had not been thoroughly examined before:
“In just five months, his office identified an astonishing $1.86 billion in excessive local government spending.”
The money wasn’t being hidden; rather, it just wasn’t being questioned.
In Kentucky, auditors have focused their efforts on reviewing Medicaid eligibility controls:
“Uncovering more than $836 million in taxpayer-funded payments made without benefiting eligible Kentucky recipients due to systemic eligibility and verification failures within the program.”
These are different states, some with different programs, but the same result when scrutiny was applied to spending.
In North Carolina, additional funds were uncovered when State Auditor Dave Boliek revealed over $1 billion in unspent salaries resulting from prolonged vacancies throughout the state. Meanwhile, in Utah, Auditor Tina Cannon reported discovering more than $518 million attributed to fraud, waste, and abuse spread across various agencies and nonprofits that receive both state and federal funding.
This isn’t just a single rogue program or a problem confined to one state. It’s not limited to a specific category of spending either. Rather, it reveals a broader trend.
In his letter to Vice President J.D. Vance, the President of SFOF, O.J. Oleka, wrote that the group’s members are “allies already on the battlefield” and are prepared to assist the administration in safeguarding taxpayer dollars.
For years, Democrats and much of the political left have viewed the fraud warnings issued by the Trump administration as mere ideological theatrics. However, audits aren’t driven by ideology. If billions of dollars become apparent across state systems once officials choose to investigate, then dismissing it as a right-wing obsession is nothing short of willful blindness.
