Vice President JD Vance came to Milwaukee on Wednesday to highlight the Trump administration’s work to combat fraud — and raise funds for Republican candidates heading into the November midterm elections.
The official event, which was held June 8 inside a steamy hangar at the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 128th Air Refueling wing, addressed various types of Medicaid and public benefits fraud.
At times it felt like a political rally, as Vance, joined by Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Wisconsin Republicans, praised the Trump administration’s efforts and accused Democrats of failing to crack down on fraud.
Vance also addressed a wide range of issues, including the ongoing federal probe into the 2020 presidential election, the Trump administration’s efforts to obtain information about FoodShare participants, and the crackdown on fraud in the state’s prenatal care coordination program.
And Vance reflected on the last time he was in Milwaukee for the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Here are some takeaways from the event.
Vance and Republicans focus on efforts to combat fraud
Vance’s visit came shortly after the U.S. Department of Justice announced a nationwide, $6.5 billion health care fraud takedown. More than 450 people across 45 states have been charged in connection with the effort, federal officials said.
President Donald Trump tapped Vance to lead the administration’s anti-fraud task force.
Vance, Oz, and U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil each spoke about Medicaid fraud in Wisconsin’s prenatal care coordination program, and talked about the case against Markita Barnes, the former owner of a company that was supposed to help low-income pregnant women, mothers and babies. Barnes was sentenced to just over 10 years in prison after being convicted on felony fraud charges after a jury found she stole $2.3 million in Medicaid money.
Barnes was the focus of a Journal Sentinel investigation. She was indicted in 2023 while Democratic President Joe Biden was in office.
Oz slammed Barnes, saying she and her prenatal care coordination company were supposed to help take care of mothers and young children – “our most vulnerable among the most vulnerable.”
“She’ll sacrifice children to be able to get that purse in her hands,” Oz said, referring to a photograph of Barnes that was displayed on the stage.
In Wisconsin, Black babies are three times more likely to die than White babies, and Black women are five times more likely to die from complications linked to pregnancy and childbirth.
“Folks, it is time to crack down on fraud,” U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate for governor, said from the podium at Wednesday’s event, surrounded by signs that read “Fighting Fraudsters” and Protecting Taxpayer Dollars.”
As governor, Tiffany said, he would “audit all of state government” and allow “zero” fraud.
“Newsflash: ‘all of state government’ is already ‘audited’ by the Legislative Audit Bureau as overseen by the Republican-controlled Legislature, which you would think someone who wants to run state government should already know,” Britt Cudaback, a spokeswoman for Gov. Tony Evers, said on X in response to Tiffany’s comments.
The nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau regularly conducts audits of state government operations in cooperation with the Legislature’s audit committee.
“We should build on the important work that Wisconsin DOJ and others do to combat fraud with serious long-term solutions, not gimmicks,” Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a statement.
Kaul said Wisconsin should enact statutes creating a new crime of “fraud scheme,” which he proposed in the $115 million “Safer Wisconsin” legislative package he introduced for legislative approval in 2021. Kaul’s proposal would have combined provisions of existing theft and fraud statutes for circumstances “when a single deceptive scheme results in theft by fraud.”
The attorney general also said the state should reinstate a law that encouraged whistleblowers with evidence of Medicaid fraud to come forward. The “false claims act” law enacted in 2007, under which the state recovered millions of dollars from lawsuits, was repealed in the 2015-17 state budget, passed by the Republican-led Legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Scott Walker.
Vance criticizes Evers for not turning over FoodShare participant data
Vance criticized Evers, a Democrat, for rejecting efforts by the Trump administration to obtain data tied to FoodShare participants.
In April, Evers vetoed a bill that would require Wisconsin to turn over that data. He cited concerns about data security and the lawfulness of the administration’s demand.
“I could not tell you whether the state of Wisconsin has illegal aliens who are ineligible, who are receiving food stamp benefits paid for by your tax dollars,” Vance said.
“The reason why I don’t know the answer is because the governor of this state will not give us the data that allows us to say, ‘This person is eligible, this person is an illegal alien, scratch them off the list,'” he said.
Vance said he gives credit to “blue-state” officials working with the administration to identify fraud in government programs, but called it a “two-way street,” asking them to hand over data like FoodShare rolls.
Vance may meet in D.C. with the Milwaukee mayor
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson sent a letter to Vance the day before his visit, inviting him to visit local election officials and talk about the ongoing federal probe into the 2020 presidential election.
“Federal law enforcement agents, deployed at the direction of the President’s administration, have been present in my city, interviewing election officials,” Johnson wrote. “I know of no justification for this activity.”
“While you are here in Milwaukee — or at any other time — I invite you to see our election operation, to talk to officials who conduct our elections, and scrutinize, firsthand, the extensive security and accuracy in place,” Johnson added.
When asked by a reporter about the letter, Vance said he needed to head back to Washington, D.C.
“I did get the letter from the mayor of Milwaukee, and he wants to meet, and he’s welcome to come to Washington, D.C.,” Vance said. “I’ll sit down and meet with him. We don’t have time to meet with him today, because we have to get back to Washington, but I’m happy to meet with him.”
In a statement after the event, Johnson said Vance “and his political accomplices continue to raise false claims regarding election integrity.”
“I will be in Washington, D.C., the week of September 21st and I look forward to engaging with the Vice President then.”
Vance acknowledges state, federal efforts to combat prenatal care fraud in Wisconsin
Many of the prenatal care coordination and other Medicaid fraud cases that have led to criminal charges in Wisconsin were investigated and prosecuted by state and federal officials. Those agencies include the state Department of Health Services’ Office of the Inspector General, the state Department of Justice Medicaid Fraud and Elder Abuse Control Unit, the FBI, and federal prosecutors.
When asked by a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter about those efforts, Vance acknowledged them as a success story.
“I think that’s a great example of the federal government and the state government working together to cut down on fraud, and we want to see that model replayed and replicated on a number of programs,” Vance said.
“I’ll give great credit to all the blue-state governors who are working with us. But most blue-state governors, if you want to check, for example, whether illegal aliens are getting food stamps, most of them are saying, ‘We’re not going to do that.'”
“This should be a bipartisan issue. If you’re a Democrat, and you believe that Medicaid should exist to provide good health benefits to people who can’t afford them, then why don’t you want to cut down on the fraud?”
“I’ll say to the governor of the state, even though he’s not in my political party, the attorney general, anybody else. You have an open offer to come into the White House and to talk about how we can combat fraud together,” Vance said. “It’s got to be a two-way street.”
Democrats slam Vance as he arrives in Milwaukee
In a news conference ahead of Vance’s event, Rep. Kalan Haywood, D-Milwaukee, credited Democratic leaders in Wisconsin for their responses “when isolated cases of Medicaid fraud occurred in Wisconsin.”
“Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul investigated, the bad actors were prosecuted, and the system worked,” Haywood said. “That’s what real accountability is about.”
Haywood said Republicans are “taking the actions of a few bad actors and using them as an excuse to punish hundreds of thousands of honest Wisconsinites who rely on Medicaid for health care.”
“That’s not responsible governing; that is simply political theater,” Haywood said. “Wisconsinites deserve leaders who wake up every day asking one question: Will this make life better for the people I represent? Not asking, will this earn praise from Donald Trump?”
Vance recounts learning he was VP last time in Milwaukee
At the start of his remarks, Vance recounted the last time he was at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee: For the 2024 Republican National Convention. On this trip, Vance hosted a fundraiser for the Republican National Committee at the hotel.
He recalled flying into Milwaukee on the first day of the 2024 convention, not knowing if he would be named Trump’s running mate. He saw a text message from campaign manager Susie Wiles, saying he had just missed an important phone call. He called Trump back.
“[Trump] said, ‘JD, you did miss a very important phone call, and now I’m going to have to pick somebody else,'” Vance said. All the while, his son was trying to get his attention about Pokémon cards.
His nomination became official later that evening at the RNC in Milwaukee. Vance was at the Pfister Hotel earlier in the day July 8, which was a hotel site for the RNC, though Vance said he stayed at another RNC hotel.
“Walking through the Pfister Hotel, I’ve got this moment of remembrance … where I almost missed the president’s phone call,” Vance said.
“But here I am, it worked out. I’m the vice president of the United States, thanks to you,” he said.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Takeaways from Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Milwaukee
Reporting by Mary Spicuzza, Jessie Opoien and Hope Karnopp, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mary Spicuzza, Jessie Opoien and Hope Karnopp, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
