Both Minnesota lawmakers and Republican House leaders have called for Gov. Tim Walz to resign in the wake of a viral video exposing more alleged fraud at Somali-owned daycare centers.
YouTuber and independent journalist Nick Shirley’s video has sparked more disbelief as to the depths of the fraud. Beyond the known welfare and housing fraud, the alleged childcare fraud has reportedly has been going on for some time, according to the Minneapolis resident, David, who joins Shirley in the video and local news reports.
In response to the footage, which shows sketchy buildings without children, locked doors and hostile Somalis, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has sent agents from HSI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI to Minneapolis to further investigate the claims.
Amid the latest allegations, a group of Republican state legislators is calling on Walz to resign.
The joint statement released Monday by GOP Sens. Bill Lieske and Nathan Wesenberg and Reps. Marj Fogelman, Drew Roach, and Mike Wiener comes in the wake of Shirley’s video on alleged child care fraud, KSTP 5 Eyewitness News reported.
In the joint statement, the lawmakers wrote, “People in our districts raise this issue constantly. It is the number one issue we hear about. They want to know why nobody is being held accountable. They want to know when somebody is going to fix it. And they want to know why the governor isn’t resigning.”
Lieske and his Republican colleagues are pointing to a provision in the state constitution — Article 8, Section 6 — which states that the governor could be recalled on grounds of malfeasance for their reasoning.
“What we are seeing from the governor is what nonfeasance looks like. When a governor fails to do what he is required to do, when he watches a crisis spiral out of control and does nothing to stop it, that is nonfeasance,” the statement continues. “The governor had a duty to oversee his administration and protect these programs. He failed. There needs to be consequences.”
KSTP 5 Eyewitness News has conducted its own investigation related to the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), a taxpayer-funded daycare initiative.
Back in January, Eyewitness News reporter Jay Kolls first reported on how several daycares received millions of tax dollars despite repeated safety violations. Kolls visited several of the same daycares in the video.
The local news station’s reporting on CCAP funding later renewed debate at the State Capitol regarding oversight of the $400 million program. KSTP 5 has its own webpage devoted to Minnesota’s fraud coverage.
In another report from The National News Desk, Minnesota State Rep. Kristin Robbins claims she raised concerns over the daycare facilities suspected of fraud nearly two years ago, but Walz and his administration failed to address them.
Robbins told the New York Post that she presented a list of daycare facilities which received over $1 million dollars in state funding with multiple violations during a February 2024 hearing.
“They can’t say they didn’t know,” Robbins said. “We had a hearing on it. We gave them a list, and nothing has happened. I find it shocking that this is still happening when we flagged something over and over again.”
Walz’s handling of the confirmed fraud cases and where the money went is also under investigation by the House Oversight Committee.
Chairman James Comer joined “America’s Newsroom” on Fox News to discuss the alleged mismanagement of taxpayer dollars in Minnesota government programs. He emphasized that there was “massive fraud and money laundering” in Minnesota under Gov. Tim Walz’s and Attorney General Keith Ellison’s watch.
It also appears the state leadership made an effort to cover it up and retaliate against whistleblowers who sought to protect taxpayer dollars, Comer said.
U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota, also took Walz to task for ignoring the concerns of lawmakers, whistleblowers and previous news reports.
“Tim Walz sat idly by while billions were stolen from hardworking Minnesotans. What Walz refused to address for SEVEN YEARS, Nick Shirley uncovered in ONE DAY. The fraud in Minnesota is so brazen and so vast that it’s IMPOSSIBLE Walz’s administration didn’t know about it,” he posted on X over the weekend.
Tim Walz sat idly by while billions were stolen from hardworking Minnesotans.
What Walz refused to address for SEVEN YEARS, Nick Shirley uncovered in ONE DAY.
The fraud in Minnesota is so brazen and so vast that it’s IMPOSSIBLE Walz’s administration didn’t know about it. https://t.co/ZoXY1cvZPr
— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) December 27, 2025
On Monday, Emmer issued another statement, which he shared on X, calling for the denaturalization and deportation of every Somali engaged in fraud in Minnesota.
“I have three words regarding Somalis who have committed fraud against American taxpayers: Send them home,” he said in the statement. “If they’re here illegally, deport them immediately; if they’re naturalized citizens, revoke their citizenship and deport them quickly thereafter. If we need to change the law to do that, I will.”
BREAKING: I’m calling for the denaturalization and deportation of every Somali engaged in fraud in Minnesota. Read my full statement below:
“I have three words regarding Somalis who have committed fraud against American taxpayers: Send them home. If they’re here illegally,…
— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) December 30, 2025
In many cases, the fraudsters created shell companies masquerading as daycare centers, home health providers and food assistance programs. They stole government funds by fabricating services or inflating the number of people they claimed to serve, Fox News Digital reported.
Emmer, the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, said it’s time to deport Somalis involved in the fraud even if they’re now citizens. According to Emmer, 90% of the people charged with fraud have a Somali background.
“Our nation will not tolerate those who take advantage of our charity and refuse to assimilate into our culture,” Emmer continued. “Additionally, if any naturalized Somalis had undisclosed ties to terrorist organizations like Al-Shabaab, I want to see their citizenship revoked and their asses sent back immediately. Same goes for anyone who is found to have committed marriage fraud during the immigration process.”
Republican Senator Ted Cruz highlighted the Somali fraud on his Verdict podcast and social media, noting “The Somali community came to Minnesota and discovered American politicians who were willing to partner with them to rob American taxpayers. The scale of this theft boggles the mind.”
Meanwhile, state officials and daycare managers have pushed back on Shirley’s reporting, claiming he visited the daycares when they were not open.
Tikki Brown, Commissioner of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, the agency that oversees CCAP, addressed the video at a news conference on Monday.
Brown told local outlets that the daycare centers featured in Shirley’s video have been visited at least once by the state in the past six months for licensing renewal purposes.
Brown added that inspectors found children present during those visits and that none of the prior reviews uncovered fraud.
In a video shared online, Ibrahim Ali, from Quality Learning (spelled “Learing”) Center in Minneapolis, said the viral visit happened outside of business hours. He also disputed claims made during the state briefing that the center had closed due to space concerns.
“There’s no fraud going on whatsoever,” Ali, the center’s manager, said per a Fox News Digital report. “Kids come to us, clients come to us, their parents come to us – they’re here daily, they leave on time, they come on time. There is no fraud going on whatsoever.”
