Survey: Most U.S. voters hold government fraud responsible for high cost of living

By Tate Miller
The Center Square 

Concurrent with the Trump administration’s War on Fraud, a survey shows that most American voters believe government fraud is responsible for the nation’s high cost of living, with one expert saying that fraud is the “invisible tax.”

Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks told The Center Square that the survey commissioned by the State Financial Officers Foundation “makes clear that Americans across the political spectrum are concerned about their tax dollars being lost to fraud and waste.”

“That concern reflects a straightforward reality,” Oaks said. “When accountability weakens, the financial burden ultimately falls on households.”

“Efforts to reduce the cost of living and to strengthen oversight are closely connected,” Oaks said.

“As financial officers, we are committed to ensuring that public funds are managed responsibly and transparently,” Oaks said.

“We will work with the Trump administration to protect taxpayer resources and reduce waste, fraud, and abuse,” Oaks said.

State Financial Officers Foundation is a collection of state treasurers, auditors, and comptrollers whose top job is to be a “watchdog of taxpayer dollars,” according to the organization’s media relations.

State Financial Officers Foundation CEO OJ Oleka told The Center Square in regards to his organization’s survey: “Americans rightly understand that fraud is the invisible tax worsening the affordability crisis.”

Oleka said that “taxpayer dollars being stolen and wasted by fraudsters isn't just a criminal issue, it's an economic one.”

“The Trump administration's war on fraud and waste is popular, justified, and absolutely necessary for reducing the cost of living for American families,” Oleka said. 

“Fortunately, dozens of principled state treasurers and auditors are bringing the same might to this fight as they brought to our battles against ESG, debanking, and every other threat to Americans' financial security,” Oleka said.

According to the poll conducted by Deep Root Analytics for the State Financial Officers Foundation, 87% of U.S. voters are very concerned (50%) or somewhat concerned (37%) about “fraud or misuse of taxpayer money in government programs.”

Misuse of tax dollars is no doubt important to these pollees and their standard of living, since the total household income before taxes for 40% of them is less than $50,000 a year, according to the poll.

Eighty-three percent of surveyed voters believe that “fraud or misuse of government funds contributes to higher taxes or costs for families” a great deal (46%) or a fair amount (37%).

Additionally, 70% of voters believe “there is too little oversight over government spending and people who want to misuse taxpayer money have too easy of a time doing it.”

This same percentage believes the nation needs “more aggressive fraud investigation and prevention measures to ensure taxpayers’ money isn’t wasted.”

Interestingly, At 32%, those with "moderate" political views were the largest political bracket surveyed.

Thirty-seven percent of those polled identified as Republicans, while 38% identified as Democrats.

The survey was conducted in March 2026 and surveyed slightly more females (52%) than males (48%).

The Trump administration’s War on Fraud began March 2026, with the establishment of a “task force to eliminate fraud.”

At the beginning of April, Colin McDonald was sworn in by Vice President Vance to lead the new National Fraud Enforcement Division, with the State Financial Officers Foundation stating it is "exactly the accountability America needs.”

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