By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s internal watchdog office is investigating whether people caught up in President Donald Trump’s Washington crime crackdown are improperly enrolled in some federal benefits, according to a government document and three people familiar with the matter. The department’s inspector general’s office is […]
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Exclusive-US probes people swept up in Trump Washington crackdown for benefits fraud
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By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s internal watchdog office is investigating whether people caught up in President Donald Trump’s Washington crime crackdown are improperly enrolled in some federal benefits, according to a government document and three people familiar with the matter.
The department’s inspector general’s office is looking to see if the people have defrauded the Medicare, Medicaid or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs for low-income, elderly and disabled Americans, probing people ensnared by Trump’s policing surge in Washington, D.C., for possible violations unrelated to the reason they were stopped by police.
Justice Department officials have said that more than 2,000 people have been arrested in the Washington crackdown, though it is unclear if any have been charged for defrauding federal programs. The Health and Human Services inspector general’s office is also looking into people police questioned or detained, but did not arrest, as part of the effort, a government document reviewed by Reuters shows.
The investigations have tied up resources inside the department that would normally pursue bigger, high-dollar fraud cases tied to illegal billing practices and unlawful kickbacks, the people familiar with the matter said.
When asked about the department’s watchdog checking on possible benefits fraud during the Washington surge, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said:
“The Trump Administration is committed to stopping all crimes while simultaneously protecting communities and services for law-abiding Americans. Protecting services that low-income families rely on to get-by is something everyone can celebrate.”
A spokesperson for the Health and Human Services Department inspector general’s office declined to comment, citing a policy of not discussing law enforcement operations.
In fiscal year 2024, the department’s inspector general’s office collectively identified a total of $7.13 billion in expected recoveries through its investigative and audit work. In its most recent report to Congress, the office said that for every dollar invested in its efforts, it returns $11 in expected recoveries to the federal government.
Mark Lee Greenblatt, the Interior Department’s former inspector general, who was fired in January by Trump, said it was unusual to involve investigators of this kind in a crackdown that is not likely to lead to a large financial recovery for the government.
“They are high-impact agents who have specialized knowledge, and who return big dollars to the United States Treasury on behalf of the American people,” he said. “Why would we want to sideline them?”
It is unclear what the department plans to do if it flags people for possible enrollment fraud. It could refer them for criminal prosecution, pursue civil litigation or the offices that administer the benefits could take steps to have them terminated.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., and her criminal chief recently ordered prosecutors to pursue charges in every case, and to file federal charges whenever possible. That plan has faced some roadblocks, with grand juries taking the unusual step of rejecting felony charges on at least eight occasions.
A Pirro spokesperson declined to comment.
Trump in August took federal control of Washington’s police department and flooded the city’s streets with federal law enforcement agents and members of the National Guard in what he described as a crime crackdown. The city’s violent crime, including murders, soared in 2023, making Washington one of the nation’s deadliest cities. It dropped 35% in 2024, according to federal data, and it has fallen an additional 26% in the first seven months of 2025, according to city police.
The crackdown has led multiple federal law enforcement agencies to order agents to step away from usual case work to take turns working nighttime patrols, typically handled by local police. Trump this week said he intends to replicate the effort in other cities, starting with Memphis, Tennessee.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)