New Year, New DOJ Division & New Assistant Attorney General Position

Yesterday, the White House announced the creation of a new DOJ division:  “[T]he DOJ’s new division for national fraud enforcement will enforce the Federal criminal and civil laws against fraud targeting Federal government programs, Federally funded benefits, businesses, nonprofits, and private citizens nationwide.”  The White House, “Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Establishes New Department of Justice Division for National Fraud Enforcement,” January 8, 2026 (last visited January 9, 2026). 

At yesterday’s White House press briefing, Vice President, J.D. Vance, further announced that the White House will create a new Assistant Attorney General position, “who will have nationwide jurisdiction over the issue of fraud.”  (“White House Press Briefing by Vice President J.D. Vance,” The White House, January 8, 2026).  According to the Vice President’s briefing, creating this position is in response to the alleged federal government fraud discovered in Minnesota.  The administration believes that similar misconduct is occurring throughout the nation, including in Ohio and California. 

Although the division’s creation and new position were triggered by the alleged fraud targeting federal government programs, the White House describes both the new division and Assistant Attorney’s role as being broader than combatting fraud, waste and abuse. The new division will focus on “fraud targeting…businesses, nonprofits and private citizens nationwide,” while the position “will be responsible for leading the Department’s efforts to investigate, prosecute, and remedy fraud affecting the Federal government, Federally funded programs, and private citizens.”  In addition, the new role “will oversee multi-district and multi-agency fraud investigations; provide advice, assistance, and direction to the United States Attorneys’ Offices on fraud-related issues; and work closely with Federal agencies and Department components to identify, disrupt, and dismantle organized and sophisticated fraud schemes across jurisdictions.”  Id.  Although the position may initially focus on the conduct in Minnesota, the responsibility of the Assistant Attorney General role in the new DOJ Division is broad with nationwide criminal and civil authority.

The Vice President believes the nomination for the new role will be made in the next few days, and mentioned how Senate Majority Leader John Thune promised a "swift confirmation."  The Vice President indicated that the position will be “permanent” and will likely remain through the end of the administration. 

The Vice President noted that the administration intentionally did not appoint a special counsel due to potential constitutional concerns.  Although he indicated that this new role will have “all the benefits and resources of a special counsel,” the role will “run out of the White House under the supervision of [the Vice President] and the President of the United States.”  Vice President Vance raised how the new Assistant Attorney General will have resources and access to materials, that “make this person more effective.”

What does this mean?

• Increased attention.  Based on the White House’s Fact Sheet, there appears to be another mechanism to enforce the DOJ’s and the administration’s priorities.  Last May, the DOJ Criminal Division cited “waste, fraud and abuse” as an enforcement priority and “corporate procurement fraud” was added as a subject area to the Criminal Division’s Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, which has received over 100 tips between May and early December.  Not even a year later, the administration is creating a new division that will include more lawyers, prosecutors, agents and forensic accountants to identify and prosecute nationwide fraud.
• White House supervision of the new Assistant Attorney General.  At the press briefing, the Vice President described how the position will be under his and the President’s “supervision.”   It is unclear what this means with respect to supervision by the Attorney General and further clarification will likely be forthcoming soon.
• Difficult to predict what this means in practice.  It is difficult to say how this new division will interact with other existing DOJ divisions and departments, especially since the Fact Sheet indicates the division “will enforce the Federal criminal and civil laws.”  Also, the Fact Sheet provides that the new division and Assistant Attorney General role will have a broader ambit than combating waste, fraud and abuse, which could include tariff evasion. Consequently, there may be overlap with the existing DOJ Criminal and Civil Divisions.
• Beware of inquiries that may seem administrative or routine.  This administration effectively uses interagency task forces.   Companies may receive an inquiry from a government department or agency (outside of the DOJ) that may seem routine or a lower risk.  Because of the task forces, it is imperative to take every government inquiry seriously and have the mindset that any responsive information may be shared with the DOJ to review.
• Review your corporate risk assessments.  It is imperative to review (even at a high-level) your corporate risk assessments. This administration can be unpredictable, including “pausing” and reinstating enforcement efforts in certain areas and prohibiting conduct, such as DEI efforts; while also increasing scrutiny in areas such as tariff and trade compliance.  It is essential to consistently review your corporate risk assessments and allocation of the company’s compliance resources. 

Additional authors: A. Scott Bolden and Dan Herbst