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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz criticized the Trump administration this week after federal officials paused certain child care payments to the state amid expanded scrutiny of alleged fraud in Minnesota social services programs. “This is Trump’s long game,” Walz wrote Tuesday in a post on X, The Hill reported.
“We’ve spent years cracking down on fraudsters. It’s a serious issue — but this has been his plan all along,” he added. “He’s politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans,” Walz wrote.
In a separate post Wednesday morning, Walz accused President Donald Trump of “using an issue he doesn’t give a damn about as an excuse to hurt working Minnesotans.”
The Department of Health and Human Services froze child care payments to Minnesota earlier Tuesday.
Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill said he demanded an audit from the Walz administration following allegations raised in a video published by YouTuber Nick Shirley.
O’Neill said all payments from HHS’s Administration for Children and Families to states nationwide will now require prior justification along with receipts or photo documentation.
Vice President JD Vance praised the move, calling it one of the “most important steps we can take to end the fraud in Minnesota.”
The Department of Homeland Security has also deployed agents to Minneapolis, while the Small Business Administration has paused grants to the state.
Since 2022, the Department of Justice has charged 98 individuals in connection with the fraud investigation involving programs under the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said earlier this month that “half or more” of the $18 billion billed to 14 state programs since 2018 could be fraudulent.
Court records reviewed by the Minnesota Star Tribune indicate the confirmed amount may be closer to $218 million.
Walz ordered a third-party audit of the 14 programs in October, including the now shuttered Housing Stabilization Services program.
He also appointed Tim O’Malley earlier this month to oversee program integrity and strengthen fraud prevention efforts.
Republicans have accused Minnesota Democrats of failing to prevent widespread fraud, with some lawmakers calling for aggressive federal intervention, The New York Post reported.
“This is what the mafia does. They steal, they lie, they cheat,” Rep. Mike Haridopolos said Thursday on Fox News Live.
“The federal government has to use the full powers that we used to destroy the mafia back in the 1960s,” he added.
Former House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said Minnesota officials should testify before Congress.
“They need to explain this to the American people and the people of Minnesota,” Chaffetz said Thursday on Fox & Friends.
President Donald Trump suggested the fraud total could exceed current estimates while speaking at a New Year’s Eve event at Mar-a-Lago.
“Can you imagine, they stole $18 billion,” Trump said.
“That’s just what we’re learning about. That’s peanuts,” he added.
The House Oversight Committee is expected to hold multiple hearings on the Minnesota fraud investigation in the coming weeks.
Influencer Nick Shirley accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of child care fraud, alleging more than $110 million in taxpayer funds were paid to child care centers he claims were not operating in a 42-minute video posted to X that has since gone viral.
In the video, Shirley and his crew visit multiple Minnesota child care centers on a weekday and say they found them empty and nonoperational.
“There’s no one here,” Shirley says on camera while standing outside one of the facilities. “This is a prime example of the billions of dollars in fraud happening right now in Minnesota.”
Shirley highlighted a Minneapolis facility called Quality Learning Center, noting that the word “learning” is misspelled on its exterior sign, reading “learing” instead. He claimed the center is licensed for approximately 99 children but appeared vacant during his visit.
Shirley alleged the center received $1.9 million in Child Care Assistance Program funding in 2025, in addition to millions of dollars in previous years.
