The U.S. House Oversight Committee is accusing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison of “one of the most stunning oversight failures” regarding the handling of taxpayer fraud in federally funded social programs.
The report issued on Monday claims senior state officials knew of systemic fraud as early as 2019, but did not stop payments to suspicious providers.
The report goes on to say that state agencies had the power to suspend or stop payments without waiting for direction from courts, law enforcement or the federal government.
“Today’s report is the culmination of months of investigative work and reveals hard evidence showing how the Walz Administration failed to stop widespread fraud, allowing criminals to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers,” Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement. “It is now clear the Walz Administration chose to protect the system rather than protect the taxpayer.”
The report estimates that $300 million in federal child nutrition funds were lost to fraud. Furthermore, it claims that potentially $9 billion in Medicaid-related funds were either lost or placed at “serious risk” due to state oversight failures.
A spokesperson for Governor Tim Walz provided the following statement:
“This committee has proven time and time again to be nothing more than a joke. They continue to rehash COVID-era fraud to distract from endless wars, gas prices, ICE, and the President’s insider trading. Governor Walz is glad to see fraudsters are going to prison. If the committee is concerned about corruption, they should investigate why President Trump continues to let fraudsters out of prison.”
According to the report, the Walz administration retaliated against state employees who tried to blow the whistle on the vulnerabilities, while senior leaders prioritized managing political and media fallout over addressing the core issues.
KSTP has reached out to the office of Attorney General Keith Ellison for comment regarding the House Oversight Committee’s report.
