Fact-check · Sep 22, 2026 · JD Vance
“Hundreds of billions of dollars from the American taxpayer, and we were giving it to a bunch of fraudsters”
TRUE
What the record shows
GAO estimates UI fraud at $100-135 billion (April 2020-May 2023); SBA OIG reports ~$200 billion in potentially fraudulent pandemic loans. Combined, these exceed hundreds of billions across pandemic programs.
Sources
- Republicans Are Rooting Out Billions in Fraud - U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn of...
- Pandemic Oversight: The Biden Administration’s New Anti-Fraud Proposal | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
- EPA Inspector General Report Reveals Biden Admin’s Wasteful Spending Imperiled Tens of Billions of Tax Dollars | US EPA
- Improper Payments and Fraud in Pandemic Programs
- ICYMI: USA Today: 'You cannot hide': Biden administration to go after scammers who stole billions in COVID relief | The American Presidency Project
- 'Biggest fraud in a generation': The looting of the Covid relief program known as PPP
From: Vice President JD Vance Holds Press Conference on Fraud
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