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Christian Robles

Technology Reporter, Nextgov/FCW

The Trump administration claims it found more than $1.2 billion in suspected fraud and stopped $41 million more across five COVID-related contracts, according to a Wednesday press release from the General Services Administration.

GSA said although the COVID-19 national emergency and related acquisition flexibilities were cancelled in 2023, unnamed federal contractors continued to receive funding. The alleged fraud was uncovered in collaboration with the Health and Human Services Department and under the direction of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.

“The COVID emergency ended over three years ago, yet fraudsters continue to weaponize outdated emergency contracts to abuse taxpayer dollars,” GSA Administrator Edward Forst said in the release. “GSA will continue to work with the Vice President’s task force to stop improper payments, refer suspected fraud to law enforcement, and fight to recover every dollar.”

GSA estimates that about 93% of the contract funding — which would have been distributed for COVID vaccines and other pandemic-related services — has not yet been distributed to vendors, while roughly 6.78% has already been expended, according to a Fox News exclusive attached to the release. The agency has suspended payments to contractors, although the uncovered funding is not currently tied to criminal charges for contractors, the outlet reported.

“We're not after the honest contractors who did real pandemic work — we're after the leftover contracts hiding behind a crisis that no longer exists. The emergency is over. So is the free pass,” said Scott Brady, executive director of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, in the GSA press release.

The alleged COVID-related contracting fraud comes roughly a month after GSA said it found $13 billion in suspected procurement-related fraud since March 2026. At the time, an expert told Nextgov/FCW the alleged procurement-related fraud is a “trust but verify situation” and cautioned that fraud suspicions are different from adjudications.

In announcing suspected procurement-related fraud, GSA said it was reviewing COVID-19 spending, the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program spending, contractor eligibility, bid rigging, cybersecurity false claims, bribery and other contractor-integrity risks.

The administration claims it has uncovered about $260.7 billion in fraud since January 2025, including $96.4 billion at HHS and $13.9 billion at GSA, according to its fraud.gov ledger.