During the second Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has reorganized its priorities, reallocated resources, and reduced staffing among several divisions. So far, the DOJ’s priority has been immigration enforcement. But that is not the whole story.
White-collar crime enforcement has also been overhauled. The DOJ has combined several components under one umbrella. The National Fraud Enforcement Division (NFED) will soon be one of the DOJ’s largest litigating components. Recently, it outlined its enforcement priorities.
The National Fraud Enforcement Division Will Focus on Fraud Involving Taxpayer Dollars
The National Fraud Enforcement Division was created in April 2026. It combines the Criminal Division’s Tax Section, Health Care Fraud Unit, and Market, Government, and Consumer Fraud Unit into a single division dedicated to fraud enforcement.
In an August 13 memo, the NFED shared its most comprehensive list of priorities to date. It will focus on:
- Procurement and public-trust fraud. Calling it a critical priority, the NFED is devoting resources to investigating benefit and grant program fraud, including student loans, child-care programs, veterans’ benefits, nutrition programs, disaster relief, and small-business programs.
- Health care and telehealth. The NFED will prioritize health care fraud, including Medicare and Medicaid fraud, telemedicine fraud, controlled-substance diversion, home-health and hospice schemes, and deceptive marketing of unsafe products.
- Criminal tax enforcement. The NFED has assumed control of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section, bringing criminal tax enforcement within the Fraud Division’s broader enforcement structure. The new framework places tax offenses alongside public trust, health care, global trade, and corporate fraud priorities. This suggests that tax violations may receive increased attention when connected to other alleged fraud.
- Tariffs and trade. The NFED will investigate trade fraud, including schemes to evade tariffs, customs duties, and other import restrictions. Targeted conduct includes falsely stating the origin of goods, routing goods through another country to avoid tariffs, and undervaluing imports.
- Corporate misconduct. Reporting and certain policy changes suggest reduced enforcement in some traditional white-collar areas. The NFED has also said that it will reward companies that voluntarily disclose misconduct. If a corporation reports possible criminal misconduct before DOJ learns of it, fully assists the investigation, and fixes the problem, DOJ may decline to prosecute.
What the DOJ’s New Focus May Leave Behind
The DOJ's increased enforcement of taxpayer-funded program fraud and immigration is part of a broader shift in enforcement priorities. According to a ProPublica analysis, the DOJ closed more than 23,000 criminal matters without prosecution during the first six months of the second Trump administration.
There has also been an overall drop in federal sex-trafficking prosecutions. Through June 2026, federal prosecutors charged 73 people with sex-trafficking offenses, which is the slowest pace since 2010 and about 22% below the average at the same point in the prior three years, according to a Reuters review of court records.
In addition to lower sex-trafficking prosecution levels, the DOJ has:
- Brought criminal FCPA or anti-corruption charges against five individuals in 2025, down from 20 in 2024. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit’s prosecutor headcount reportedly fell from 32 in 2024 to 22 in 2025. On February 10, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order pausing FCPA enforcement for 180 days.
- Reduced federal drug prosecutions by about 10% through September 15, 2025, compared with the same period in 2024. This translates to roughly 1,200 fewer controlled-substances cases and is the lowest pace in decades. Charges tied to drug conspiracies fell about 15%, and money laundering charges often used in higher-level trafficking investigations dropped about 24%.
- Lost nearly 38% of its staff in the National Security Division as of April, according to DOJ records.
What It All Means
The takeaway is that the DOJ’s new Fraud Division will focus on fraud involving public funds, health care, tax offenses, and global trade and commerce. While DOJ materials continue to identify human trafficking and drug markets as priorities in certain programs and U.S. Attorney’s Offices, available records show lower prosecution levels in both areas, at least for publicly available data.
For the public, the shift in DOJ priorities means increased attention to fraud involving taxpayer dollars. Individuals and companies that bill Medicare or Medicaid, receive grants or benefits, hold public contracts, or import goods may want to assess their fraud controls and expect more scrutiny.
As the federal government continues its focus on public funds and immigration, whether prosecutions into other alleged crimes will continue to decline remains to be seen.
