US vice president to lead 'anti-fraud task force': Report

WASHINGTON

US Vice President JD Vance will soon be announced as the head of a White House anti-fraud task force that will investigate allegations of welfare fraud in California and other states, according to a report published Wednesday.

Vance and Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson are in their "final stages" of planning ahead of the official rollout, CBS News reported based on information from multiple anonymous sources. Ferguson is slated to serve as the group's vice-chair and will manage day-to-day matters.

The task force will be established by an executive order that President Donald Trump is expected to sign in the coming days, it added. The vice president's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Colin McDonald, a longtime federal prosecutor, is slated to work close with Vance and Ferguson, CBS reported. McDonald was previously tapped by Trump to fill a new Justice Department role sought by the White House to investigate allegations of fraud. The highly irregular arrangement places the assistant attorney general post within the White House rather than the Justice Department.

Vance said as he announced the new post that the new position "has all the benefits, all the resources, all the authority of a special counsel, but with two crucial differences." Those include being established within the White House "under the supervision" of Trump and Vance, and what the vice president alleged is a firm constitutional foundation.

Traditionally, attorney generals and their teams are based within the halls of the Justice Department to insulate the agency and its officials from political interference. Critics charge that Trump has largely done away with such longstanding norms of independence from political interference.

The post will require Senate confirmation to be filled, and a hearing has yet to be scheduled.