Balancing the budget by eliminating fraud: WH official makes strong claim at roundtable
by GEOFF HARRIS | The National News Desk
Wed, May 27, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Updated Wed, May 27, 2026 at 10:22 PM
WASHINGTON (TNND) — Balancing the federal budget by eliminating fraud and improper government payments. That’s what White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller claimed could be possible during Tuesday's fraud roundtable hosted by Vice President JD Vance.
I believe based on what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard, that we could balance the federal budget if the only dollars that went out of the Treasury went to individuals who are properly, lawfully, correctly eligible to receive them,” said Miller.
Those comments generated backlash from critics, who pointed to Miller's math. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the deficit in 2025 was around $1.8 trillion.
The Government Accountability Office estimates the total amount of improper government payments across all programs is closer to $186 billion. But President of the Capital Research Center, Scott Walter, told The National News Desk on Wednesday, Miller is onto something with his remarks. Especially since no one knows the full scope of the fraud happening in both federal and state governments.
We know at the barest minimum, it's tens of billions and quite possibly hundreds of billions of dollars and therefore would make a dramatic effect on the budget deficit that we currently run,” Walter said.
Walter added, it's difficult to track the different types of fraud all over the budget. Like covid loan fraud. Medicaid home healthcare fraud, along with hospice and autism fraud.
Not only is this a tragedy for taxpayers, but as the Vice President said, it's also a tragedy for the legitimate people in America who are suffering and who rely on these programs,” said Walter.
Thoughts that were echoed by House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., during an exclusive interview with The National News Desk on Tuesday. Comer said Americans don't mind paying for benefits for those who need it. But what they do mind is the fraud and ineligible funding.
We all support welfare to the people who are truly eligible for welfare, but the problem is we're being fleeced. We're being fleeced and Democratic governors for whatever reason don't want to do anything about it,” Comer said.
Meanwhile, President Trump also weighed in during Wednesday’s cabinet meeting. Saying he believes the administration has a chance to save Social Security by ending the fraud.
We're going to make our social security so strong, so good, that you've never seen anything like it. I said right from the beginning, we're going to protect our people on social security,” said Trump.
In fiscal year 2025, the U.S. had a total federal budget of $7 trillion. Around 59-60%, or over $4 trillion, went to mandatory spending. Like social security ($1.5-$1.6 trillion), Medicare ($900 billion+) and Medicaid ($700 billion+).
