Donald Trump and JD Vance launched the WHIP program on Tuesday, a new federal effort that pays everyday people up to $30,000 for tips that help prosecutors bring fraud charges.
WHIP stands for the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program. A whistleblower is someone who reports wrongdoing they know about, often from inside a business or agency. The Justice Department will run the program through its National Fraud Enforcement Division, the fraud unit it created in April. The Treasury Department is putting up $25 million to fund it.
The timing of the payout is what makes the WHIP program different. According to the Justice Department, a tip that leads to criminal charges earns between $10,000 and $30,000, and the money is paid once charges are filed. Most government reward programs make tipsters wait until a case is completely finished, which can take years. That includes the conviction, any appeals, and the seizure of money or property tied to the crime. The department says this is the first program to pay at the charging stage. Tipsters can still qualify for larger rewards through other federal programs if their information leads to big penalties down the line.
The White House described the terms differently. In its own announcement, it said tips must lead to a fraud conviction or a significant federal enforcement action. At the White House event, Trump added that payments would work out to a 1% commission on the amount of fraud a tip uncovers. Neither the 1% figure nor a conviction requirement appears in the Justice Department’s published terms, which say awards are made at the department’s sole discretion after charges are filed. Trump also said journalists could take part in the program, but the department has not explained how that would work.
The WHIP program does not cover every kind of fraud. It focuses on health care crimes and on fraud against benefit programs run by eight federal agencies: the Departments of Agriculture, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Education, Veterans Affairs and War, plus the Small Business Administration. Those agencies run SNAP, Medicaid and Medicare, housing assistance, student aid, veterans benefits and small business loans. Within health care, the department says it will prioritize tips about hospice, home health care, day care and special services fraud.
Day care is near the top of that list because of Minnesota. The administration’s fraud crackdown picked up speed after viral videos late last year claimed Minnesota day care centers were collecting federal money without serving children. According to the Associated Press, inspectors later said the centers in the videos were operating as expected, but the administration kept pushing investigations in the state. Trump created the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud in March and put Vance in charge of it, and the WHIP program now runs under that task force.
Attorney General Todd Blanche urged Americans to use the program, saying it lets people “be rewarded quickly for their efforts.” Colin McDonald, who leads the fraud division, said the program will enlist the public in what the administration calls its war on fraud.
Anyone who wants to submit a tip can do so at america.gov/fraud, the address the Justice Department listed. The full terms are posted on the department’s website.
The launch comes two weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, as Trump and Vance campaign across the country to help Republicans keep control of the House and Senate.
