Ben Cline

Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., told Newsmax Tuesday that the Justice Department will "bring the hammer down" on fraudulent operations targeting federal benefit programs as the Trump administration ramps up enforcement efforts tied to immigration and welfare fraud.

Cline's remarks followed comments by Vice President JD Vance that federal prosecutors are reviewing disputed allegations involving Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., as Republicans push for tougher enforcement against immigration and federal benefits fraud.

Cline, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, appeared on "Ed Henry: The Big Take" hours after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that the DOJ had created a new fraud enforcement division targeting abuse of federal benefit programs that Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., described as a "tier one slush fund."

Blanche established the National Fraud Enforcement Division on April 7, consolidating the Tax Section; Health Care Fraud Unit; and Market, Government, and Consumer Fraud Unit under a single assistant attorney general.

Asked whether prosecutions would follow, Cline said the House Judiciary Committee, under Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, "is taking action to shine a light on this," and that Blanche "is going to bring the hammer down on these fraudulent operations starting in Minnesota."

Cline said fraud extends beyond Medicaid and Medicare.

"It's SNAP fraud," he said, citing his own legislation, the No Welfare for the Wealthy Act, which would require all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program households to meet federal income and asset tests by eliminating broad-based categorical eligibility.

Cline embraced Vance's comments earlier Tuesday that the Justice Department is examining Omar over allegations tied to her 2009 marriage to British citizen Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, whom critics have alleged is her brother.

Vance, who leads the administration's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, told reporters he did not "want to prejudge an investigation," but "it certainly seems like something fishy is there."

Omar has denied the allegations for years, and a DOJ inquiry during the Biden administration closed without charges being filed.

"I think there is sufficient evidence to proceed with an investigation," Cline said.

He described Blanche as "a bloodhound when it comes to tracking it down" and said the department would hold accountable "those who are trying to defraud the American people, whether it's through our systems of government or whether it's through elected office."

Omar's chief of staff, Connor McNutt, called the renewed fraud accusations "a ridiculous lie."

Cline did not specify which Minnesota cases he expected to lead the rollout.

Federal prosecutors have described the Minnesota Feeding Our Future case, involving more than $250 million stolen from a pandemic-era federal child nutrition program, as one of the largest fraud schemes in U.S. history.

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