The House voted 352-72 to codify President Trump's National Fraud Enforcement Division into permanent law, with 139 Democrats joining every Republican despite deep party divisions.
The House voted 352 to 72 on Wednesday evening to make President Donald Trump's National Fraud Enforcement Division a permanent part of the Justice Department, handing the administration one of the most lopsided bipartisan wins of the year on an issue that has become a defining theme of his second term.
Every vote against the bill came from Democrats, but 139 Democrats joined all Republicans in supporting it, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. The defections laid bare a party split over whether to keep battling an anti-fraud push that draws broad public support with the midterms approaching.
The legislation, H.R. 9576, the National Fraud Enforcement Division Act of 2026, would write into law a unit the White House stood up through executive action in January 2026 and give it a durable statutory footing.
The final tally was 352 to 72, with nine members not voting. Republicans voted unanimously in favor -- 213 yea votes -- while Democrats split 139 to 72. The roll call took place at 6:37 p.m. Eastern, capping a stretch in which the chamber cleared several pieces of legislation before members left Washington for the pre-election recess.
Supporters framed the bill as a straightforward commitment to protecting taxpayer dollars. "It's not a partisan initiative," said Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J. "It's a permanent, nonpartisan commitment that we do something better." Van Drew pointed to public frustration with waste, saying the people watching "are getting tired of all the money that has been wasted."
The division was announced in January with a mandate covering fraud affecting the federal government, federally funded programs, and private citizens. In the months since, it has become a hub for investigations touching benefits programs, pandemic-era relief funds and state-administered welfare systems.
The division drew national attention earlier this year when Vice President JD Vance referred Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison to it for potential criminal investigation over what Republicans describe as a ballooning fraud scandal in Minnesota's social welfare programs.
Both Walz and Ellison have acknowledged that federal dollars were misused, but argue Republican critics have blown the scale of the problem out of proportion for political advantage. The administration has pointed to Minnesota repeatedly, describing a fraud epidemic in the state.
Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., argued the vote was about more than one state. "What has come out of Minnesota over the last year, what has been exposed, is absolutely criminal in nature," she said. Hageman added that similar problems in cities and states run by Democrats may prove larger still -- possibly by an order of magnitude.
Not every Democrat who voted yes did so enthusiastically. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a leading progressive, said he would give "tepid support" to the measure while arguing that the Justice Department has had fraud-fighting units for decades.
"This is hardly some kind of great breakthrough in law enforcement or criminal justice," Raskin said on the floor, describing the bill as the least objectionable item to come through a chaotic stretch of House business. He also accused the administration of tolerating corruption among its own allies while pursuing fraud cases elsewhere.
The bill arrives amid a broader federal enforcement surge, including a nationwide election fraud crackdown that has produced charges against more than a dozen defendants across at least five states in the past week alone. For the White House, the overlap is the point: fraud enforcement has moved from talking point to standing institution.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where its bipartisan House margin gives it real momentum but no guarantee of swift floor time. Lawmakers face a crowded calendar and a recess already underway, so the Senate path could stretch into the post-election session.
If enacted, the division would no longer depend on the discretion of the sitting president -- a change supporters say insulates anti-fraud work from future administrations that might deprioritize it. The practical effect would be a permanent office with its own mandate, staffing and reporting obligations.
For voters, the vote is a rare marker of consensus in a Congress defined by narrow margins. It also sets up a test of whether the Senate will follow the House's lead or let the measure stall as both parties position themselves for November.
The House voted 352-72 to codify President Trump's National Fraud Enforcement Division into permanent law, with 139 Democrats joining every Republican despite deep party divisions.
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