Vice President JD Vance said Monday that he had referred allegations involving Minnesota state officials to the Department of Justice’s new Fraud Division for a possible criminal investigation into fraud and misconduct within the state’s taxpayer-funded healthcare and social service programs.
The announcement came after the Republican-led House oversight committee released a 205-page report alleging that officials in Gov. Tim Walz’s administration retaliated against state employees who raised concerns about fraud. According to the report, Minnesota Department of Human Services officials enlisted private investigators and outside law firms to scrutinize whistleblowers, monitor employees who reported suspected abuse, and employ intimidation tactics. In one instance, a DHS manager allegedly suggested using military connections to track the whereabouts of employees, raising fraud concerns.
“I’ve referred these allegations to DOJ’s new Fraud Division for criminal investigation,” Vance wrote on X. “Minnesota state officials are not above the law, and if they facilitated fraud, lied under oath about what they knew, or harassed and intimidated whistleblowers, they must face justice.”
House oversight committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) described the findings as one of the most significant oversight failures his committee has examined.
“Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison are responsible for one of the most stunning oversight failures this Committee has ever examined,” Comer said in a statement.
The committee concluded that Walz and Ellison were aware of credible fraud concerns for years but failed to use their authority to halt payments or remove questionable providers from government programs.
Comer also sent a letter Monday to Vance, who leads the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, urging a comprehensive review of Minnesota’s social service programs and anti-fraud safeguards.
Vance was appointed to head the task force in February after President Donald Trump declared a “war on fraud” during his State of the Union address. Shortly afterward, Vance and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz announced a pause on federal Medicaid reimbursements to Minnesota.
Walz and Ellison have previously rejected claims that state officials knowingly allowed fraud to continue, calling retribution politically motivated.
“Trump is weaponizing the entirety of the federal government to punish blue states like Minnesota,” Walz wrote on X in February.
The report followed months of scrutiny over alleged fraud in Minnesota’s social service programs, including claims involving daycare providers misusing pandemic-era federal funds.
Walz administration used outside investigators to punish whistleblowers, oversight committee finds
Walz ended his campaign for a third bid for governor in early January after the scrutiny over his state’s fraud management failures.
The findings come as House Republicans prepare to advance a package of anti-fraud legislation this week aimed at strengthening oversight of federal programs. The Government Accountability Office estimates that fraud costs the federal government between $233 billion and $521 billion annually.