U.S. Sens. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Jon Husted of Ohio formally launched a bipartisan task force aimed at rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in federal education funding, marking a new phase of oversight by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee according to a news release.

The task force, announced last month by the HELP Committee, was formed after investigators exposed a sweeping fraud scheme in Minnesota that allowed Somali immigrants to steal more than $19 billion in taxpayer funds. According to committee findings, the scheme relied on fake daycare centers that claimed federal education money despite having no enrolled students.

As co-chairmen of the task force, Tuberville and Husted outlined their objectives in a letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, thanking her for efforts to cut unnecessary spending at the department and pledging support for its core mission. The Daily Signal first reported on the letter.

“Our goal is for all Americans to know that money allocated towards funding education will be accounted for and spent wisely,” the senators wrote in the letter. “Taxpayers demand that federal investment in our nation's education is efficient, effective and transparent.”

The HELP Committee said the task force will focus on identifying vulnerabilities in federal education programs and strengthening safeguards to prevent misuse of taxpayer dollars. Federal education funding supports a wide range of programs, from early childhood services to higher education assistance, and represents a significant annual investment by Congress.

In conjunction with the task force’s launch, the HELP Committee unveiled a new online portal that allows the public to report suspected fraud involving taxpayer funds. Tips can be submitted at https://tinyurl.com/3dvfat4h.