A massive welfare fraud scheme in Minnesota tied to Somali immigrants has several groups pointing the blame back on Gov. Tim Walz’s failed leadership.
The Manhattan Institute’s City Journal recently exposed the extent of the fraud, linking the state’s welfare and COVID-relief funds to the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab.
There’s so much fraud, it’s hard to keep track of it all. The multi-million-dollar schemes involved stealing money from Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services program, Feeding Our Future and other organizations, including one focused on providing autism services to children and families.
The widespread fraud prompted President Donald Trump to demand an immediate end to Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota.
Trump wrote on Truth Social last week: “Hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota,” adding, “Tim Walz does nothing either through fear, incompetence, or both.”
And now Walz, also known as “Tampon Tim” and former vice president Kamala Harris’ running mate in 2024, is under fire from federal prosecutors, the U.S. Treasury Department, staff at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, whistleblowers and the House Oversight Committee.
Fox News Digital reported on Tuesday the House Oversight Committee has opened a probe into Walz’s handling of a pandemic food-aid program for children that became “the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country.”
Federal prosecutors have so far uncovered roughly $300 million in alleged fraud connected to the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which received taxpayer funds meant to feed low-income children during the pandemic.
Last week, the Justice Department announced new charges against the 78th defendant in Feeding Our Future fraud scandal. At least 59 people have been convicted so far, the New York Post reported.
The scammers fleeced millions in taxpayer money, claiming to have provided food to needy children, but instead they laundered the money to buy real estate, luxury cars and more.
“Minnesota has become the land of 10,000 frauds under Tim Walz,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) told The Post about the scandal.
“This is a total slap in the face to the hardworking, law-abiding people of Minnesota. The Walz administration is either too incompetent or completely unwilling to clean up their own mess.”
Several organizations tied to the fraud were run by Somali Minnesotans. Three defendants pleaded guilty in September 2024 for their roles in the COVID child nutrition fraud scheme.
Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital that Walz knew about the massive fraud but failed to act.
“Instead, whistleblowers who raised concerns faced retaliation,” Comer said. “Because of Governor Walz’s negligence, criminals — including Somali terrorists — stole nearly $1 billion from the program while children suffered. The House Oversight Committee will conduct a thorough investigation into Governor Walz’s failure to safeguard taxpayer dollars.”
Recent reports claim Walz and Minnesota’s “bleeding-heart bureaucracy” failed to act out of fear of retaliation and threats of “racism” and discrimination by the state’s sizeable and influential Somali community.
“We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud but no, we got the opposite response,” the X account Minnesota Staff Fraud Reporting Commentary shared in a post on Saturday with a link to a story by The New York Times.
Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota. We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud but no, we got the opposite response. Tim Walz systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression,… https://t.co/cEtbnuKmgn
— Minnesota Staff Fraud Reporting Commentary (@Minnesota_DHS) November 30, 2025
“Leadership did not want to appear to discriminate against certain communities and were unwilling to take action, such as stopping fraud, that would have an adverse impact on their image.”
The DHS employee X account claims to represent nearly 500 employees at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, and they maintain the governor “has failed Minnesota,” “retaliated against whistleblowers” and discredited their reports.
The group opened Saturday’s lengthy post by saying: “Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota.”
In a recent report by Newsweek, the outlet tried to confirm who is behind the X account and contacted DHS. The agency said the it is “not an official department account and does not represent the views of the agency.”
Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo of the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, begin their City Journal report with the claim that billions in taxpayer dollars have been stolen under Walz’s watch alone.
According to federal counterterrorism sources not named in the report, millions of dollars in stolen funds were sent back to Somalia and funneled to the terror group Al-Shabaab. As one confidential source put it: “The largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota continues to investigate and file charges related into the complex fraud schemes. On Monday, the office announced that a Minneapolis non-profit director has been charged with fraud.
On Aug. 1, Minnesota’s Department of Human Services moved to scrap the Housing Stabilization Services program, which ballooned from a $2.6 million annual budget when the program launched in 2020 to $104 million in 2024. During the first six months of 2025, payouts totaled $61 million, according to the City Journal report.
The money went to 77 housing-stabilization providers, but the HSS program was terminated this year due to “credible allegations of fraud.”
In September, Joe Thompson, then the Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota announced criminal indictments for HSS fraud against eight defendants, including six from the Minnesota’s Somali community.
The indictments allege fictitious nonprofits were created to defraud the system, operating out of dilapidated storefronts or rundown office buildings.
The fraudsters had other companies that billed the state for social services and Medicaid-funded programs that prosecutors alleged were never actually provided, such as the EIDBI autism program, Adult Rehabilitative Mental Health Services program, the Integrated Community Support program, and the Community Access for Disability Inclusion program.
“What we see are schemes stacked upon schemes, draining resources meant for those in need. It feels never ending,” Thompson said in the City Journal article. “I have spent my career as a fraud prosecutor and the depth of the fraud in Minnesota takes my breath away.”
The news of Comer’s House Oversight investigation was also reported by the New York Post, which shared posts from the account representing Minnesota’s DHS employees.
“Tim Walz systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression, and did his best to discredit fraud reports,” the account wrote. “Instead of partnership, we got the full weight of retaliation by Tim Walz, certain DFL members and an indifferent mainstream media. It’s scary, isolating and left us wondering who we can turn to.”
Walz launched his campaign for a third term as governor of Minnesota in September. Walz fired back against the allegations and Trump, adding “I take responsibility for putting people in jail,” despite federal prosecutors leading many of the charges.
“Donald Trump: Deflect, demonize, come up with no solutions. He’s not going to help fix anything on fraud,” Walz told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in an interview that aired Sunday. “My God, there’s a big difference between fraud and corruption. And corruption is something he knows about.”
