Voters want sweeping changes to address government fraud
By Brett Rowland
The Center Square
Voters are concerned about government fraud and want to see lawmakers make sweeping changes, pass new laws and open new investigations to address the longstanding problem at the local, state and federal levels.
Despite years of anti-fraud initiatives and billions spent on prevention, American voters remain frustrated by what they see as persistent and costly government fraud. Fresh polling reveals a bipartisan demand for sweeping reforms, with the majority of voters calling for comprehensive changes to root out waste and restore trust in public institutions.
A new The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll found that 57% of registered voters believe governments need to make large, systematic changes to stamp out rampant fraud that drains taxpayer resources. An additional 37% said the problem could be addressed with a few new laws, changes to existing laws and more investigations. About 7% favored only minor changes to existing laws, while 4% said minor tweaks to government investigations would suffice.
Support for systematic change spans the political spectrum, with 61% of Republicans, 54% of Democrats, and 55% of independents expressing this view.
Fraud has remained a stubborn challenge at the federal level for decades, persisting despite ongoing investments in prevention efforts.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office's first-of-its-kind estimate of annual fraud costs, published in 2024, found that taxpayers lose between $233 billion and $521 billion annually. The White House questioned the accuracy of that figure at the time. The GAO fraud estimate's range represents 3% to 7% of average federal obligations.
Lawmakers have made a fresh push for changes after recent high-profile fraud cases in Minnesota, California and elsewhere. Democrats have argued that Trump and Republicans are only cracking down on fraud in blue states and programs favored by Democrats, which Republicans deny. Earlier this month, Trump launched an anti-fraud task force, led by Vice President JD Vance.
Trump took office in January 2025, determined to reduce government size and curb fraud. He launched the Department of Government Efficiency, which was briefly led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who appeared on stage with a chainsaw at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference. However, the initiative lost momentum after Musk's departure, and Trump has since stopped promoting DOGE-funded rebate checks for taxpayers. While DOGE remains operational, it has not achieved the transformative impact Trump hoped at the start of his second term.
Trump compared DOGE to the "Manhattan Project" for government cost-cutting, promising an unprecedented crackdown on waste. Both Trump and Musk assured the public that DOGE would deliver a leaner, more efficient government by reducing waste, cutting regulations, and shrinking the federal workforce. Musk initially claimed DOGE would save $2 trillion, but later revised the target to $1 trillion. In April 2025, he reported that DOGE was on track to save $150 billion. According to its website, DOGE said it saved $215 billion, about $1,300 per taxpayer, through its work.
Voters weren't entirely convinced by DOGE. A poll conducted by The Center Square last year found that 46% of registered voters believed DOGE was effective at cutting federal government waste while 43% said DOGE wasn't effective. The results of that poll closely matched party affiliation, with Republicans more likely than Democrats and independents to say DOGE was effective.
The most recent The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll was conducted by Noble Predictive Insights between March 2 and 5. The poll sample included 2,659 respondents, comprising 952 Republicans, 934 Democrats, and 773 Independents, of whom 330 are true independents, those who, when asked whether they leaned toward one of the major parties, chose neither. It is among the most comprehensive tracking polls in the country.
The poll's margin of error is +/-1.9%.
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