The House delivered another massive win to President Donald Trump this week.
House lawmakers approved H.R. 9576, the National Fraud Enforcement Division Act of 2026, in a lopsided bipartisan vote Wednesday.
The measure passed 352-72, with nine members abstaining and no lawmakers recorded as present.
Every voting Republican supported the bill, producing 212 GOP yes votes and zero Republican opposition.
Democrats split more sharply, with 139 voting yes, 72 voting no, and three abstaining.
One independent also supported the measure, completing the House’s 352-vote coalition for passage.
Republican Rep. Brad Finstad of Minnesota introduced H.R. 9576 on July 2 with Kansas Republican Rep. Derek Schmidt.
Republican Reps. Abraham Hamadeh, Harriet Hageman, and Michelle Fischbach later joined Schmidt as cosponsors.
The legislation would place the National Fraud Enforcement Division permanently inside the Department of Justice.
That division already exists administratively after the Justice Department established it earlier this year under President Donald Trump.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche formally announced the division in April as part of a broader federal anti-fraud campaign.
DOJ says the unit investigates and prosecutes fraud targeting taxpayer dollars, government programs, businesses, nonprofits, and private citizens.
The division also coordinates with federal agencies and state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement partners.
H.R. 9576 would convert that executive-branch structure into a statutory DOJ division created directly by federal law.
The House-passed text places the division under the Attorney General’s authority and establishes permanent leadership for the operation.
It creates an Assistant Attorney General for National Fraud Enforcement to head the division.
That official would be appointed under existing federal law and designated by the president for the fraud-enforcement role.
The final House text gives the Assistant Attorney General duties prescribed by the Attorney General.
It also extends federal political-activity restrictions to employees of the new division, paralleling those covering DOJ’s Criminal Division.
Finstad said Minnesota’s recent fraud investigations helped demonstrate why federal authorities need a stronger permanent enforcement structure.
“I’m proud to see my National Fraud Enforcement Division Act of 2026 pass in the House today,” Finstad said.
He said the legislation would establish “a permanent framework to strengthen our federal fraud prosecution efforts.”
Schmidt said fraud against federal programs and taxpayers costs Americans billions while weakening services intended for legitimate recipients.
“Fraud targeting federal programs and taxpayers costs Americans billions,” Schmidt said after the House approved the legislation.
He called the bill “a commonsense step” toward strengthening the government’s ability to investigate and prosecute fraud.
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain also praised passage while arguing weak enforcement has allowed fraudsters to exploit programs.
“Fraudsters have gotten rich exploiting government programs and weak enforcement for far too long,” McClain said.
McClain added that government should possess “the tools and the determination” to pursue people stealing from taxpayers.
The Government Accountability Office has estimated federal fraud losses between $233 billion and $521 billion annually.
That estimate used fiscal-year 2018 through 2022 data and represented roughly three to seven percent of average federal obligations.
The watchdog has repeatedly urged stronger analytics, better data sharing and government-wide fraud-risk management.
The House vote demonstrated broad agreement on creating that structure, despite significant Democratic opposition to the legislation.
Notably, 139 Democrats joined all voting Republicans, preventing the final tally from becoming a largely party-line outcome.
Seventy-two Democrats opposed passage, but the official House tally itself does not explain each member’s individual reasoning.
The measure was considered under a closed rule providing one hour of debate and one motion to recommit.
H.R. 9576 itself produced far broader support than the procedural vote controlling how the House considered it.
The legislation remains comparatively short, focusing on DOJ structure, leadership authority and political-activity restrictions.
It does not create a new criminal offense, change sentencing rules or establish a separate federal fraud court.
It also does not itself appropriate a specific dollar amount for the division in the House-passed statutory language.
Instead, its central effect would be making the existing fraud unit a permanent component of the Justice Department.
The Senate must still approve the legislation before it can be sent to President Trump for his signature.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
