US President Donald Trump has called on Congress to introduce mandatory prison sentences for people convicted of defrauding Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, while proposing personal financial liability for state and local politicians who knowingly fail to stop fraud.
Trump made the call in a video posted on Truth Social on Saturday, saying the proposed legislation would eliminate probation as an option for people convicted of stealing from federal benefit programmes.
“Today, I’m calling on Congress to pass legislation to address fraud in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security programs,” Trump said.
“First, Congress must impose mandatory minimum sentences on fraudsters who steal from critical benefit programs designed to take care of the sick, feed the hungry, care for our children, and protect our senior citizens, retirees.”
He said people convicted of stealing from the programmes should face lengthy prison terms, with tougher penalties based on the amount stolen.
“Under our proposal, probation is no longer an option for the fraudsters. If you steal from the American people, you will go to prison, and for a long period of time,” he said.
“And the more you steal, the longer you’ll stay in that prison. Not only that, but if you’re a convicted fraudster who gets caught stealing from the American people a second time, your sentence will be doubled.”
Trump also proposed doubling the sentence of convicted fraudsters who are caught committing the offence for a second time.
“If you’re a convicted fraudster who gets caught stealing from the American people a second time, your sentence will be doubled,” he said.
The president further proposed making state and local politicians personally liable for losses caused by fraud if they knew about it, had the power to stop it but failed to act.
“Under our proposal, if a state or local politician knows about fraud and has the ability to stop it, but does nothing about it, they can be personally liable for the full loss of the American taxpayers’ money that they should have stopped and they should have saved,” Trump said.
Trump did not provide specific sentencing ranges or explain in the video what legal standard would determine whether an elected official knew about fraud or had the ability to prevent it.
The proposal comes amid stepped-up federal efforts by the Trump administration to combat fraud involving government benefit programmes.
“This legislative proposal will make fraudsters think long and hard before they keep stealing from the American people and will make crooked and corrupt politicians think also long and hard before they ignore fraud that they can stop and that they should stop,” Trump said.
He ended the video with a warning: “So from now on, fraudsters, we’re watching you.”
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