New Trump Admin Incentive Program Promises Big Payouts For Fraud Whistleblowers
President Donald Trump announced a program Tuesday to financially incentivize individuals who identify fraud in the federal government.
Pete Peterson · Oct 21, 2026 · 2 min read
President Donald Trump announced a program Tuesday to financially incentivize individuals who identify fraud in the federal government.
Trump revealed a new program at a White House event, saying the government would pay those who report fraud and assist the Department of Justice (DOJ) in prosecuting people who steal from the federal government. The Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program (WHIP) will reward up to $30,000 to tipsters who help bring about federal charges for government fraud, according to a press release from the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs.
This $25 million program is the first of its kind; while typically government whistleblowers are only rewarded after convictions for crimes, WHIP will pay tipsters for information leading to prosecution.
Independent journalist Nick Shirley was the first benefactor of this program, receiving $10,000 in the Oval Office on Tuesday for his work exposing Somali daycare fraud in Minnesota.
“When you expose fraud, you help America,” Shirley said.
Trump initially described the program as granting a 1% commission to whistleblowers on money they discovered stolen from the government, but the DOJ clarified that the payments would be in the range of $10,000 to $30,000.
The implementation of WHIP comes in the midst of the White House’s efforts to crack down on federal fraud.
The DOJ created its Fraud Division on April 7th. “The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people,” stated the press release. The division exposed over $490 million in tax fraud in conjunction with the IRS on Oct. 14th.
The former director of the Minnesota-based Feeding Our Future nonprofit organization was sentenced to 41 years in prison in May for the theft of nearly $250 million in government dollars through a COVID-era scheme promising meals for young children. A young Somali CEO pleaded guilty in Minnesota in March for defrauding $6 million through an autism center scam.