Reps. Ro Khanna, Tim Burchett to push fraud probe across all 50 states

Reps. Ro Khanna and Tim Burchett told CNBC this week they will introduce a new bill to commission a nationwide waste, fraud and abuse probe of state-administered programs that use federal funds.

The proposed bill, which was shared exclusively with CNBC, comes after reports of state-level welfare fraud erupted several months ago, drawing harsh condemnations from Republicans and some Democrats. The fraud allegations collided with proposals from Democrats to tax the rich to pay for expanded social services, which could send trillions of new dollars into federal coffers.

Khanna, D-Calif., who is separately leading Democrats on a bill to impose a federal wealth tax, told CNBC in December he would introduce the fraud probe as soon as he found a Republican cosponsor, after some of his longtime Silicon Valley supporters threatened to revolt over his embrace of such a tax. The bill introduction with Burchett, a conservative Republican from Tennessee, appears to make good on that promise.

“As a progressive Democrat, I fundamentally believe we need to show people that their tax dollars are going to be effective, that we’re actually going to use it to get people health care and child care and education and services,” Khanna said in an interview Wednesday. “We have to show that we’re going to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, that taxpayers can trust that the money they’re giving is going to get to the working class.”

Despite saying his progressive ideals drive his push for an audit, Khanna insisted in the interview that the effort would be bipartisan and apolitical. Recent reports of alleged fraud were instrumental in kicking off the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota that resulted in the deaths of two American citizens.

“One of the things we both wanted to do was to make sure it’s not political,” Khanna said in the interview. “It will undermine our effort if this becomes a political bludgeon to go after Minnesota or my home state. There is an issue with federal programs that are high risk, and that is something that could happen in any state.”

Burchett, in an interview Wednesday, agreed that the effort is geared more toward finding fraud than scoring political points.

“We need to find out, and the way you do it is an audit,” Burchett said, noting his political differences with Khanna.

“Ro is a pretty smart guy. We don’t agree on a lot, but honesty is one of those things I think we…