Vance Says DOJ Investigating Ilhan Omar, Declines to Rule Out Indictment
Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that the Department of Justice is actively investigating Rep. Ilhan Omar, escalating scrutiny surrounding the Minnesota Democrat and fueling speculation about a potential federal indictment.
Vance made the comments during a White House press briefing where he temporarily filled in for press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is currently on maternity leave.
The remarks came in response to a question from Daily Caller White House correspondent Reagan Reese regarding allegations involving Omar’s immigration history and prior federal probes into her finances and campaign activity.
“I don’t want to prejudge an investigation,” Vance said. “You read the things about Ilhan Omar, and about who she married, and whether she didn’t marry this person or that person. It certainly seems like something fishy is there. But everyone is entitled to equal justice under the laws.”
The vice president then confirmed that the matter is currently under federal review.
“So we’re going to investigate it, we’re going to take a look at it,” Vance said. “If we think there’s a crime, we’re going to prosecute that crime, and that’s something that the Department of Justice is looking at right now.”
The comments mark the clearest public acknowledgment yet from the Trump administration that Omar is facing an active DOJ investigation.
They also represent a significant escalation in a yearslong political controversy surrounding the congresswoman, who has repeatedly faced allegations tied to her personal relationships, campaign finances, and immigration history.
Omar has long denied wrongdoing and has previously dismissed Republican accusations against her as politically motivated attacks.
Tuesday’s revelation follows earlier reporting from The New York Times that former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department quietly launched a probe into Omar in 2024.
According to that report, federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., working alongside the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, examined campaign expenditures, personal financial records, and alleged contacts involving a non-U.S. citizen.
Sources familiar with the matter told the Times the investigation ultimately lost momentum after agents reportedly failed to uncover evidence warranting additional charges or expanded prosecution efforts.
The Trump administration now appears to be revisiting at least parts of that inquiry.
Vance’s comments come as Republicans intensify broader investigations into Minnesota’s sprawling Feeding Our Future fraud scandal, one of the largest pandemic-related fraud cases in U.S. history.
GOP lawmakers in Minnesota have repeatedly attempted to draw connections between Omar, the Somali community organizations implicated in the scandal, and federal nutrition programs expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this month, a Republican-led Minnesota House committee narrowly failed to subpoena Omar for documents related to the Feeding Our Future investigation after Democrats on the panel blocked the effort in a tied vote.
Republican committee chair Kristin Robbins argued that Omar’s sponsorship of the federal MEALS Act in 2020 helped remove safeguards that contributed to widespread abuse within child nutrition programs during the pandemic.
Omar’s office has repeatedly declined invitations to testify before the Minnesota committee.
The controversy surrounding Omar predates the Feeding Our Future investigation. Conservatives have for years questioned details surrounding Omar’s marriage history and immigration timeline, allegations that have circulated heavily online but have never resulted in criminal charges.
Vance himself previously suggested during the 2024 campaign that Omar may have committed immigration fraud.
The DOJ has not publicly confirmed the existence of a current investigation, and neither the Justice Department nor Omar’s congressional office immediately responded to requests for comment following Vance’s remarks.
Still, the vice president’s statements are likely to intensify political pressure on Omar as Republicans continue attacking Democratic lawmakers as corrupt heading into the 2026 midterm cycle.
Vance pushed back on concerns about political targeting during Tuesday’s briefing, emphasizing that the administration intends to follow evidence wherever it leads.
“Everyone is entitled to equal justice under the laws,” he said.
Trump Admin Says It Uncovered $10 Billion Obamacare Fraud Scheme
The Trump administration says it has uncovered what it describes as a massive fraud scheme within the Affordable Care Act.
Members of Trump’s administration allege that roughly $10 billion in taxpayer money was improperly paid out between 2021 and 2024 because of weakened enrollment safeguards under former President Joe Biden.
According to a Department of Health and Human Services report, officials have already removed nearly three million fraudulent or improper Obamacare enrollments and estimate another 2.6 million questionable enrollments remain.
Administration officials say the findings are part of a broader government-wide effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse across federal programs.
The report traces the alleged problems to changes made during the Biden administration that expanded enrollment opportunities while relaxing income verification and eligibility checks.
At the start of Biden’s presidency, approximately 10 million people were enrolled through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. By 2024, enrollment had surged to roughly 22 million.
Federal investigators now believe millions of those enrollments were improper, fraudulent, or created without the knowledge of the individuals involved.
“By our estimate, improper, phantom, and fraudulent enrollment peaked at 5.6 million people in 2025,” the report states.
“We estimate 2.6 million improper and phantom enrollments remain, including over 1 million enrollments without a Social Security number.”
According to the report, several different forms of abuse contributed to the alleged fraud.
Officials say some applicants intentionally understated their income to qualify for larger taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Others allegedly received premium assistance despite failing to meet eligibility requirements.
Investigators also identified what they describe as “phantom enrollments,” in which insurance brokers allegedly enrolled people in Obamacare plans without their knowledge to collect federal commissions.
The report argues that reduced verification requirements made those practices significantly easier to carry out.
Since taking office, the Trump administration says it has restored stricter income verification requirements, ended several special enrollment periods, increased screening for duplicate Medicaid enrollment, and launched investigations into brokers suspected of creating phantom policies.
Officials also say they have strengthened oversight of agents participating in the federal marketplace.
As a result of those efforts, nearly three million enrollments have already been removed from the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Even after those removals, approximately 19.2 million people remain enrolled.
The administration says its goal is not to reduce legitimate coverage but to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent only on individuals who actually qualify.
“Preserving the fiscal and programmatic integrity of the ACA Exchanges is key to safeguarding taxpayer-funded resources for those that truly need them,” the report states.
“The federal government paying brokers to enroll individuals without their knowledge is not.”
The report also says the administration will continue pursuing additional enforcement actions against brokers and others accused of exploiting the program.
“The Trump Administration continues to aggressively root out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption by promulgating new regulations to improve program integrity, investigating suspected improper or fraudulent enrollment, and taking action against agents and brokers committing fraud.”
The findings are likely to reignite debate over the Affordable Care Act and how aggressively eligibility rules should be enforced.
Supporters of the administration argue the report demonstrates that stricter oversight is necessary to protect taxpayers and preserve benefits for those legally entitled to receive them.
Critics of previous verification rollbacks have long warned that loosening enrollment safeguards could increase improper payments and fraud, while supporters of the Biden-era policies argued the changes made healthcare more accessible to eligible Americans, Fox News reported exclusively.
The administration says its investigations remain ongoing, with an estimated 2.6 million additional enrollments still under review as officials continue auditing the federal health insurance exchanges.
Trump has been pushing to replace Obamacare for over a decade, and this may give Republicans enough motivation to actually do something.
