California cries 'political hit job' as Trump team targets billions in unemployment fraud

California officials blasted the Trump administration’s plans to launch a 
full-sale investigation into unemployment fraud as ”purely political” — 
and blamed lost money on the feds.

The US Department of Labor intends to send a “strike team” to dig into 
COVID-19 pandemic-era fraud involving California’s Employment Development 
Department, The Post exclusively reported Wednesday.

California is believed to have lost as much as tens of billions of dollars 
in fraudulent unemployment payouts.

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said the Biden administration “turned 
a blind eye” to stolen money and vowed to fully examine the scope of theft 
that occurred early in the pandemic.

“This ends now,” Chavez-DeRemer said.

EDD officials told The Post they have already taken numerous efforts to 
combat fraud, launching more than 2,300 investigations and securing 670 
convictions with the help of Fraud Special Counsel McGregor Scott, a 
former US attorney.

“The Trump administration’s announcement today is purely political,” an 
EDD spokesperson told The Post by email.

“The fraud referenced is the result of a program poorly designed by the 
federal government, which created fraud at a nationwide scale.”

The Department of Labor did not respond to requests for comment on 
California’s stance on the pending probe.

EDD officials said the National Association of State Workforce Agencies 
and the National Governors Association both warned that unemployment 
benefits programs were “hurriedly deployed” with no anti-fraud guidance, 
collaboration or technical assistance from the federal government.

“This left states to fend for themselves against international criminal 
organizations,” a spokesperson said.

“The issues from the pandemic are long over as the nationwide fraud 
against the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program ended years 
ago. It occurred because the federal program lacked the safeguards of 
traditional state unemployment insurance.”

The feds intend to send investigators from the national and regional 
office to root out more instances of fraud similar to work being done in 
Minnesota, where officials believe up to $9 billion was stolen.

California received nearly $290 billion in relief funds during the 
pandemic, and EDD was among the largest recipients.

State officials noted that its improper payment rate of 12.06% is slightly 
lower than the national average of roughly 14%.

“We have many tools to prevent fraud, and hope the federal government 
continues to back our aggressive fraud-fighting resources,” an EDD 
spokesperson said. “We appreciate any support and cooperation in keeping 
the fraud door shut.”

Conversation.

LoveCalifornia
12 hours ago

The California general fund needs to pay this money back to the Federal 
government.  Currently, the employers are paying this money back based on 
employment taxes paid on current employees.  They are penalizing the 
employers for Gavin's misconduct.  Minnesota needs to pay back the federal 
government for all the fraud that occurred during the Walz reign. It's not 
political, it is the science of Math, Economics with the rule of law.

NYPOSTCENSORSME
12 hours ago

Nice try California...

Don't blame the federal government for YOUR failures to prevent FRAUD.

"Unemployment benefits are administered at the STATE LEVEL after receiving 
funding from the federal government. The federal government provides a 
portion of the funding for the unemployment insurance program, which is 
then used to administer benefits at the state level. Each state has its 
own rules and regulations for eligibility, benefit amounts, and payment 
duration, which can vary significantly from one state to another. This 
structure allows for flexibility in how the program is run, but it also 
means that benefits and eligibility can differ depending on the state 
where the worker was employed."

DesertBoomer
2 hours ago

So, CA officials are saying that it's the federal government's fault 
because they they didn't provide safeguards against fraud.  The argument 
being that without safeguards, fraud will naturally happen.  Lets apply 
that logic to voting.  Newsom signs a law that makes it illegal to ask for 
voter ID, and requires 100% mail-in ballots.  By intentionally legislating 
away election safeguards, he admits that dirty elections are the plan.

https://nypost.com/2026/02/19/us-news/california-blasts-probe-into-
billions-in-edd-unemployment-fraud/