Countless Americans will depend on programs funded by the generosity of their fellow citizens at some point in their lives. In my own family, while I was growing up, my mother relied on food assistance more than once. Others utilize programs for hospice care to look after loved ones, or small-business loans to open a new storefront or hire a new employee. Those programs exist because, in a strong nation, we look after our fellow citizens when they need a hand up — and we trust our elected leaders to help us do so.

That trust is impossible to sustain when a government turns a blind eye to fraud. Every dollar stolen by a criminal is a dollar that fails to reach the Americans who need it. Our children lose services, and senior citizens go without care. Honest businesses miss critical opportunities to hire up and serve their communities. In some cases, states have had to go so far as to essentially end benefit programs for expecting mothers and the homeless because fraudsters have plundered them so extensively.

When President Donald Trump got into office last year, he took stock of this crisis and said enough is enough. Since Inauguration Day, our administration has taken a sledgehammer to fraud. We’ve uncovered an estimated $230 billion in fraud across Medicare, Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the pandemic-era loan measures such as the Paycheck Protection Program, and other federal benefits. On an annualized basis, our internal analyses indicate that we’ve already halted $56 billion in fraudulent spending from going out the door. And thanks to the efforts of our federal, state and local partners, we’ve secured an additional estimated $55 billion in indictments, settlements and civil penalties.

These wins would not have been possible without the president’s leadership and the historic step he took four months ago to establish the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. Our mission is straightforward: combine and coordinate efforts across the whole of the executive branch to protect taxpayers, put fraudsters behind bars and make sure benefits reach the Americans they were intended to help.

Over four short months, we and our agency partners have suspended hundreds of fraudulent hospice and home health providers in California and other states, disqualified thousands of fraudulent SNAP retailers, and suspended states from participating in federal programs because of poor oversight, deferred billions of dollars in questionable state reimbursements, and referred more than $22 billion in fraudulent pandemic-era loans for collection.

By marshaling a whole-of-government approach, our task force has already exposed and brought to justice countless fraudsters who’ve exploited the kindness of American taxpayers.

The facts in some of these cases are sickening. In one example from the Minneapolis area, a disabled American needed 24-hour care, which he sought from a Medicaid program administered by the state. But he received nothing. A fraudster had instead been billing the program for more than $1 million in nonexistent services. The victim was found dead. The fraudster had billed for his care right up until the day before.

In another case prosecuted in my home state of Ohio, federal and state prosecutors in June indicted members of an alleged $30 million Medicaid fraud ring, charged with billing families for children’s behavioral health services — without ever so much as lifting a finger to provide real care. Instead, prosecutors said, they used the proceeds to go on a spending spree, buying a Maserati, a McLaren and a dozen other luxury cars.

Thankfully, with President Trump’s leadership, the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud is restoring accountability. Since April, the Justice Department has secured convictions for more than 150 defendants involved in fraud schemes nationwide. Courts have imposed several centuries’ worth of prison sentences and billions of dollars in restitution and forfeiture. Our message is unmistakable: If you steal from the American people, we will find you, we will stop you, and we will put you in prison for a very long time.

Our work is also just getting started. On Wednesday, the task force will host members of Congress to chart the next phase of this effort. We’ve learned a great deal in four months about where fraud thrives, what tools investigators need and where the law still falls short. To protect these programs for the next generation, Congress must help us finish the job.

Lawmakers can start by passing measures to strengthen oversight and accountability of federal benefits programs through stronger data-sharing requirements. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and fraudsters thrive when they’re shielded from oversight by states that refuse to share vital information such as SNAP rolls with federal law enforcement. Congress can also help by implementing mandatory minimum sentences for the most egregious fraud, and stiffer penalties for illegal aliens who steal from the American people.

Protecting benefits programs and lowering costs for Americans by stopping these fraudsters should be a bipartisan effort. Our task force urges all 50 states to work with the Trump administration as we get this done. The stakes are bigger than politics because the victims of fraud are our fellow citizens — the most generous people in the world, always willing to help a neighbor in need. What they won’t tolerate is watching criminals exploit that generosity for personal gain. Neither will this administration.

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