Congressional Republicans called Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday to testify amid the ongoing Social Services fraud scandal after the White House indicated it could expand its investigation to other blue states.
A day after the Trump administration announced it would freeze hundreds of millions of dollars in child care funding for Minnesota, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) invited Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (both Democrats) to appear before the committee on February 10.
“Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison were either asleep at the wheel or were complicit in a massive fraud involving taxpayer dollars in Minnesota’s social services programs,” Comer said in a statement Wednesday.
An earlier hearing scheduled for Jan. 7 is expected to feature Minnesota officials who have raised the alarm or investigated the wrongdoing.
“American taxpayers demand and deserve accountability for the theft of their hard-earned money,” he continued.
Walz, who took office in 2019, has come under fire in recent months over fraud incidents that occurred during his administration. He has recently faced calls for his resignation. Prosecutors say the scandal dates back several years and could have cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
Republicans, including President Donald Trump, seized on reports of fraud targeting Walz, other Democratic leaders, and Somalis living in Minnesota.
Also on Wednesday, White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said on “Fox & Friends” that other states could be next and are cooperating with the deprivation of citizenship of Somali-Americans, which Trump also played a role in.
“Minnesota is at the top of the list, but we know that there has been massive fraud in blue states across the country. Look at California. Look at New York. As far as this administration is concerned, all of those states will be subject to investigation and consideration,” Levitt said.
“Up to 90% of the fraud in Minnesota is caused by people who entered the country illegally from Somalia,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, also attacking Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat and the first Somali-American elected to Congress. President Trump called Omar an “ungrateful loser.”
Omar could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
“These vile human beings are a liability to the greatness of our country, and we want them to be sent back from where they came from, Somalia, which is probably the worst and most corrupt country on earth,” Trump said. He also called Walz a “crooked governor.”
A spokesperson for Walz, who was running mate to 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, responded Wednesday: “We are always willing to work with Congress, but this committee has a history of holding circus hearings that have nothing to do with the issue at hand.”
“While the governor is working to ensure fraudsters go to prison, the president is selling pardons to release them,” the statement continued.
In a press release Wednesday, Ellison defended his record, claiming that since taking office in 2019, he has “prosecuted more than 300 Medicaid fraud cases and won more than $80 million in recoveries and restitution for Minnesotans.”
Ellison also said he and his team are “considering all legal options” following the suspension of childcare funding.
“This hasty scorched-earth attack is not only wrong, it’s likely illegal,” Ellison said.
The freeze on child care funding and FBI Director Kash Patel’s Sunday announcement to bring more federal agents to Minnesota came after a video posted by a conservative influencer over the weekend that purported to show a child care facility that does not receive federal funds went viral.
The video raised questions about Walz’s leadership and brought renewed attention to long-simmering fraud allegations that led to the targeting of Minnesota’s large Somali community for its alleged role in various schemes.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill and Assistant Secretary Alex Adams announced the funding freeze in an X post on Tuesday. O’Neill also announced a national verification system for authorizing child care payments, required Walz to investigate individuals suspected of fraud, and announced the establishment of a fraud reporting hotline.
“We believe that Minnesota has allowed scammers and fake child care centers to siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over the past decade,” O’Neill said.
“Funds will only be released if the state certifies that they are being used legally,” O’Neill wrote in a subsequent post.
Vice President J.D. Vance praised the move.
“Stopping payments and forcing certification before taxpayer money goes out the door is one of the most important steps we can take to end fraud in Minnesota. But there will be more steps to come,” Vance told X on Tuesday.
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted Monday that 98 people have been charged and more than 60 have been sentenced in court. According to Bondi, 85 of those charged are of Somali descent.
“More charges await… Congressmen, buckle up!” Bondi told X.
Research into Minnesota’s social services programs goes back several years. Federal prosecutors in Minnesota said earlier this month that more than a dozen Medicaid-funded programs are being investigated, and half of the $18 billion in taxpayer funds spent on those programs since 2018 may have been stolen.
A coronavirus-era fraud case involving the Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future has led to the indictment of dozens of defendants for stealing $250 million in taxpayer funds.
Walz has been criticized for allowing misconduct under his watch. This weekend, a group of Minnesota Republican lawmakers called for Walz’s resignation, citing the state’s “fraud crisis.”
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) also called on Walz to resign. In a statement to CNBC on Wednesday, Emmer praised the Trump administration’s actions and condemned the governor.
“Tim Walz’s incompetence and inaction hurt all Minnesotans, and now Walz is suffering the consequences,” Emmer said. “His leadership failures resulted in billions of dollars being stolen from hard-working Minnesota taxpayers.”
