"There is nobody that is heading that effort up across agencies. We need to treat this like combat, and so we need somebody in charge," a former federal official said, paraphrased by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
What senators asked at the Foreign Relations Committee hearing
On Thursday, bipartisan senators pressed Trump administration witnesses about whether federal and international efforts are sufficiently coordinated to disrupt transnational scam operations. Lawmakers and administration officials acknowledged progress but described a dynamic in which enforcement in one place often pushes scam networks to relocate. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R‑Neb., asked whether the threat has matured to the point of requiring "a comparable multinational coordination mechanism" to mirror the 1990s-era Joint Interagency Task Force South, noting that today’s scam centers mix "cybercrime, human trafficking, money laundering and cryptocurrency."
Federal authorities: fragmented roles, a proposed centralized response
Committee members noted that at least 13 federal agencies possess authorities to counter scams — a fact that underscores concerns about fragmentation. Shaheen, the panel's top Democrat and a co-sponsor of the bipartisan Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization (SCAM) Act, invoked a former official's blunt assessment that no one is leading a whole-of-government effort.
David Bedard, deputy assistant secretary at State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, told senators that scammers are a national security priority for President Donald Trump and that an executive order was intended to improve coordination. Bedard said, “The Action plan that was directed by the president is currently in the interagency review process to deconflict some of the concerns that you have raised. We certainly think the task force that will be implanted through the executive order will solve the problems you might be referencing.”
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End the scrambleInternational mechanisms: Interpol, bilateral pressure, and uneven results
Witnesses described active information-sharing with foreign allies and cited Interpol as maintaining "productive" channels; Interpol, the testimony said, is also moving to establish its own task force on scammers. But panelists and witnesses warned of duplication and inconsistent progress across countries. Bedard and Michael DeSombre, assistant secretary at the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told the committee there has been more movement in countries where the United States has stronger ties.
DeSombre reported that President Trump has raised the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that China has used its regional influence as some of its citizens became scam victims. By contrast, officials said, progress has lagged in countries where ties are weaker, naming Burma and Laos as examples and pointing to Cambodia as a case where focused enforcement — particularly pursuing scam center bosses — produced results.
Enforcement tradeoffs: shut one down, another appears
Both lawmakers and administration officials emphasized a familiar enforcement dilemma: pressure in one jurisdiction often displaces operations to a different country or online platform. That observation framed calls for a layered response combining domestic centralization and strengthened multinational coordination. Questions during the hearing focused less on single-tool fixes and more on structural design: who convenes agencies, how an executive‑order task force would interact with existing authorities across at least a dozen agencies, and whether international mechanisms could avoid duplicative or conflicting actions.
How policymakers, security teams, and affected countries are responding
- Policymakers and regulators: Senators pushed for statutory and executive remedies — Shaheen supports the SCAM Act, and administration witnesses described an executive order and action plan under interagency review as the administration’s chosen path to centralize effort.
- Technologists and security teams: The hearing framed technology and cyber-enabled components of scam centers — including cryptocurrency and online channels — as part of what makes coordination necessary; the testimony implies these teams will need clearer lines to federal information-sharing mechanisms and any new task force outputs.
- Foreign governments (Cambodia, Burma, Laos, China): Officials said the willingness and capacity of national governments matter. Cambodia was cited as an example where pursuing bosses first yielded traction; Burma and Laos were held up as countries where progress has lagged. China was described as responsive at high levels, with the president having raised the topic with Xi Jinping.
The hearing left two concrete items on the timeline: the Action plan directed by the president remains in interagency review, and an executive-order task force is planned to be implemented. What was clear from both senators and witnesses is that policymakers see the problem as transnational and multi‑agency — and they are debating whether a U.S.-led, multinational coordination mechanism modeled on prior interagency efforts should be the next move.
