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Over a dozen state officials rally behind game-changing Trump admin rule cracking down on fraud: ‘Essential’
FIRST ON FOX: Financial officers from 12 states are backing a proposed Department of Labor rule that targets healthcare “middlemen” by demanding more transparency, rallying behind the Trump administration’s waste, fraud, and abuse crackdown as well as the goal of lowering healthcare costs.
In a letter to the Labor Department obtained by Fox News Digital, over a dozen state financial officers in the State Financial Officers Association (SFOF) offered their support of a proposed rule being evaluated by the Labor Department targeting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) that would expose , and overcharging that drive up costs.
“Healthcare purchasers are operating in the dark, paying inflated costs because hidden pricing and middlemen obscure where every dollar goes,” OJ Oleka, CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, told Fox News Digital. “By bringing those hidden prices into the light, companies can finally identify waste, negotiate better deals, and redirect those savings toward higher wages, more jobs, stronger benefits for workers, and increases to shareholder value.”
Oleka went on to explain that on a state level, the transparency brought on by the new rule is “essential to safeguarding taxpayer resources and fulfilling fiduciary responsibilities.”
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“Transparency isn’t just about accountability; it’s critical to detecting waste, preventing fraud, and ensuring that healthcare spending delivers value to the workers, businesses, and taxpayers who ultimately bear these costs.”
If implemented, the rule would require full disclosure of these “middlemen” revenue streams, expand beyond pharmacy benefit managers to insurers and third-party administrators, and allow access to claims and pricing data, which SFOF says will be a key tool in combating fraud while outlining in the letter that the administration shouldn’t stop there.
“As the guardians of billions of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars, we support the Labor Department’s proposed rule and hope the administration goes even further,” Tina Cannon, Utah’s state auditor, told Fox News Digital.
“Enforcing price transparency is essential for us to perform our fiduciary duties effectively,” she said. “Greater oversight and accountability for employer-based health plans will help prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in federal healthcare programs, such as the $463.7 million in inappropriate hospital payments my office uncovered in Utah last year. Expanding this rule would help us do our jobs, root out fraud and waste, and reduce the cost of healthcare for all Americans.”
A “complex web” of hidden rebates, fees, and incentives, driven by pharmacy benefit managers, has allowed fraud to go undetected for years, according to the letter.
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The push follows months of action from the Trump administration and SFOF to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse across government. Trump recently named Vice President JD Vance the nation’s “fraud czar” to lead an anti-fraud task force, and in February the SFOF uncovered billions in taxpayer waste.
Treasurers and auditors from 12 states — including Nebraska, Louisiana, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, North Dakota, Indiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Mississippi and Kansas — signed onto the effort.
More than $50 billion annually in undisclosed rebates and fees is retained by top pharmacy benefit managers, which has “prevented effective oversight,” according to the letter. The letter details methods used to generate this hidden fraud.
“Healthcare overcharging in the United States erodes shareholder value by driving up costs for employers (and patients),” the letter states.
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One major concern is that pharmacy benefit managers charge more for a drug than they pay at the dispensing pharmacy “to keep the difference or ‘spread’ as profit.” In turn, money hidden from regulators drives price spikes.
The letter also states that pharmacy benefit managers are buying more expensive drugs from manufacturers for higher rebates without those incentives ever being disclosed.
“These arrangements are generally not made public, so plan sponsors often do not have insight into how much pharmacy benefit managers are actually paying for drugs on their formularies,” according to the letter.
It adds that pharmacy benefit managers are steering patients away from cheaper pharmacy options to their own affiliated pharmacies to boost profits.
In 2023, U.S. healthcare spending reached nearly $5 trillion, about 17.6 percent of GDP, while employers spent roughly $1.3 trillion in 2024, with costs rising more than five percent annually, according to the letter.
The letter builds on recent pressure from these same officials on Fortune 500 companies to more closely examine healthcare spending data, signaling a growing investor-driven push for cost transparency.
It also follows a recent SFOF report showing that financial officers prevented $28 billion in waste and abuse in 2025 alone, along with new polling indicating that Americans view fraud as a major driver of rising living costs.
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Man charged in fatal stabbing of US Marine in North Carolina had criminal record spanning three decades
A 47-year-old man charged in the fatal stabbing of a U.S. Marine in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina, has a criminal history spanning more than three decades, including a prior conviction as a habitual felon.
Davy Spencer, 47, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder after Lance Cpl. Daniel Montano, 21, was stabbed during a chaotic early morning brawl Easter Sunday, according to Wilmington police.
Montano, who was assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines at Camp Lejeune, later died from his injuries.
SUSPECT ARRESTED, CHARGED AFTER US MARINE STABBED TO DEATH IN CHAOTIC NORTH CAROLINA STREET BRAWL
According to records reviewed by Fox News Digital, Spencer’s criminal record dates back to the mid-1990s, when he was a teenager.
North Carolina Department of Corrections records show arrests on these dates:
In 2013 and 2014, Spencer was charged with multiple counts of selling narcotics and possession with intent to distribute.
In 2015, he was convicted as a habitual felon, which applied to individuals with multiple prior felony convictions.
Following the 2015 conviction, Spencer was sentenced to seven years, three months minimum and nine years, nine months maximum in state prison, records show. Spencer was released on January 17, 2021, and his parole ended one year later.
More recently, court records show Spencer continued to face charges following his release.
In 2023, he was arrested twice in New Hanover County and released on unsecured bonds.
On July 31, 2025, Wilmington police arrested Spencer again, charging him with resisting a public officer, marijuana possession and assault on a government official or employee.
The assault charge was later dismissed. He pleaded guilty to the remaining misdemeanor charges and was sentenced to 27 days in custody.
Police say that on Easter Sunday, around 2 a.m., officers responded to reports of multiple fights in the 100 block of North Front Street in downtown Wilmington. The area, which is about 70 miles from Camp Lejeune, is a popular destination for Marines stationed at the East Coast’s largest Marine Corps base.
Video of the police response that has been circulating online shows officers deploying pepper spray before they encounter Montano, who was standing, bent over and bleeding heavily on a sidewalk.
The U.S. Marine was found suffering from a stab wound to the neck and later died from his injuries. A second man who was stabbed survived.
Montano’s relatives described him as a devoted Marine and a source of light in their lives.
“Daniel proudly served as a United States Marine, assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines Regiment at Camp Lejeune. He was not only dedicated to his country, but also deeply loved by his family. To us, he was more than a Marine — he was a son, a brother, and someone who brought so much light into our lives,” his family wrote on a GoFundMe page created to help cover funeral expenses.
Spencer was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.
Authorities have not said what led to the fight. Fox News Digital has requested further comment from the Wilmington Police Department.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
An Iranian general warned Wednesday that Tehran could shut down traffic in the Red Sea and other regional shipping lanes if the U.S. military’s blockade of Iranian ports continues.
The remarks from Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, which is Iran’s top military command, were aired by Iranian state television, according to the Middle East Eye.
Aliabadi said if the U.S. blockade continues, it “creates insecurity for Iran’s commercial vessels and oil tankers” and constitutes “a prelude” to violating the ongoing U.S.-Iran ceasefire, the news outlet reported.
“The powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea,” Aliabadi reportedly added.
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The White House, when asked by Fox News Digital for comment, provided a statement from press secretary Karoline Leavitt that said, “President Trump, Vice President Vance and the negotiating team have made the U.S. redlines very clear.”
“The Iranians’ desperation for a deal will only increase with President Trump’s highly effective Naval blockade now in effect, which is sending oil tankers towards the big, beautiful Gulf of America,” Leavitt said.
U.S. Central Command released a statement Wednesday saying the U.S. stopped nine vessels attempting to break the blockade on Iranian ports. Fox News is told all nine were oil tankers.
A senior U.S. defense official also confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday a report from Reuters that a U.S. destroyer interdicted two oil tankers that were trying to leave Iran on Tuesday.
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A U.S. official told Reuters that the ships left Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman before being contacted by the U.S. warship through radio communication.
“During the first 48 hours of the U.S. blockade on ships entering and exiting Iranian ports, no vessels have made it past U.S. forces,” U.S. Central Command said Wednesday.
“Additionally, 9 vessels have complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around and return toward an Iranian port or coastal area,” it added.
Fox News’ Liz Friden contributed to this report.
Former first son Hunter Biden acknowledged he is “completely biased” about the sweeping pardon his father granted him in 2024, renewing attention on former President Joe Biden’s decision to reverse course after publicly ruling out clemency for his son.
“I’m completely biased as it relates to what my dad did for me. I fully understand how uniquely situated I am in being privileged enough to have received a pardon from my father,” Hunter said in an interview published Tuesday by liberal outlet MediasTouch, when asked if there should be reforms made to presidential pardons.
The remarks put fresh attention on Biden’s decision to pardon his son after repeatedly pledging he would not – a reversal that undercut Democrats’ longtime “no one is above the law” message as Hunter Biden faced federal gun and tax charges.
Hunter Biden added that he was not in the position to weigh in on potential presidential pardon reforms following his father’s order, but went on to slam the Trump administration for its pardons since 2025 – including more than 1,000 individuals pardoned from prosecution related to the Jan. 6, 2021 protest at the U.S. Capitol.
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Biden reversed course in the final months of his presidency, and issued a sweeping pardon to his son. Hunter Biden was pardoned for any offense he “has committed or may have committed” from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.
Hunter Biden said that he was “filled with gratitude” to his dad when discussing the pardon.
In September 2024, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges in California for a scheme evading over $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2019. He was also convicted in Delaware in June 2024 for lying on a federal form about his drug use to purchase a firearm in 2018.
Hunter Biden also pointed fingers at the current first family in the interview, saying, “I don’t think that the founders ever imagined Donald Trump. I don’t think they ever imagined the Trump family.”
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“I don’t think people understand is that, in the first year, I think—I don’t know the exact number—I think my dad gave 80 or so pardons over a four-year period of time. I think that that’s about the number,” said Hunter Biden.
He added, “Donald Trump has given over 1,500 pardons in the first year alone. But I’m obviously—I’m not the one to be, I don’t think, fairly or unbiasedly talking about the presidential pardon vote.”
Trump did not pardon any of his children during his first administration. He did pardon the father of his son-in-law, Charles Kushner, in December 2020. Charles Kushner had served over a year in federal prison for tax evasion, witness retaliation, and campaign finance violations.
“President Trump has exercised his constitutional authority to issue pardons and commutations for a variety of individuals, including those who have been victims of Biden’s weaponized justice system,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
“And the only pardons anyone should be critical of are from President Autopen, who pardoned and commuted sentences of violent criminals including child killers and mass murderers – and that’s not to mention the proactive pardons he ‘signed’ for his family members like Hunter on his way out the door.”
Biden also issued pardons to his brother James, sister-in-law Sara, sister Valerie, and brother Francis, defending the move as protection from attacks and threats from Trump.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
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