President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Tuesday that it’s freezing child care funds to Minnesota and demanding an audit of some day care centers after a series of fraud schemes involving government programs in recent years.
Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill stated on X that this move aims to address blatant fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has pushed back against this announcement on social media, asserting that fraud is a genuine issue that the state has been addressing but asserting that the freezing of funds is part of Trump’s long game, accusing him of politicizing the situation to defund essential support programs.
O’Neill referenced a video posted by a right-wing influencer claiming that day care centers operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis were involved in $100 million worth of fraud and demanded an audit that includes attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations and inspections.
We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud, O’Neill declared.
The announcement follows U.S. Homeland Security officials conducting a fraud investigation in Minneapolis one day earlier, questioning employees at unidentified businesses.
Over the years, there have been lengthy investigations that revealed a $300 million pandemic food fraud scheme connected to a nonprofit known as Feeding Our Future, where 57 defendants in Minnesota have been convicted. Prosecutors argued the organization was central to the biggest COVID-19-related fraud scam, exploiting federally funded programs meant for child nutrition.
A recent claim from a federal prosecutor suggested that perhaps half or more of the $18 billion in federal funds supporting 14 programs in Minnesota since 2018 might have been misappropriated, mostly involving Somali Americans, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota.
O’Neill also mentioned that future payments through the Administration for Children and Families will require “justification and a receipt or photo evidence” before funds are released. A fraud-reporting hotline and email have also been established.
The Administration for Children and Families allocates $185 million in child care funds annually to Minnesota, according to Assistant Secretary Alex Adams, emphasizing that any dollar stolen by fraudsters is stolen from those children.
Adams had a conversation with the director of Minnesota’s child care services office, who indicated uncertainty regarding whether the fraud allegations were isolated or widespread.
Trump has taken the opportunity to criticize Walz's administration regarding fraud cases, targeting the Somali community in Minnesota, which holds the largest Somali population in the U.S. Governor Walz indicated an audit due by late January will provide clarity on the extent of the fraud, emphasizing ongoing actions to counter further misconduct.
U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, a prominent Somali American voice, urged against blaming an entire community for the misdeeds of a few.
