Tim Walz knocks Trump administration for freezing child care funds amid Minnesota fraud probe

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) slammed the Trump administration for pausing child care payments to his state amid increased federal scrutiny of alleged fraud within its social services programs. 

“This is Trump’s long game,” Walz wrote Tuesday in a post on social platform X. We’ve spent years cracking down on fraudsters. It’s a serious issue — but this has been his plan all along.

“He’s politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans,” he added.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) froze child care payments to the North Star State earlier Tuesday. 

Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill wrote online that he has demanded an audit from Walz on the day care centers highlighted in a video published Friday by YouTuber Nick Shirley. O’Neill said all payments from the department’s Administration for Children and Families to states across the country will require prior justification and a receipt or photo evidence.

Vice President Vance praised HHS’s moves, writing Tuesday on X that they are some of the “most important steps we can take to end the fraud in Minnesota.”

In addition to HHS, the Department of Homeland Security and Small Business Administration have taken action, dispatching agents to Minneapolis and pausing grants to Minnesota, respectively. 

Dating back to 2022, the Justice Department has charged 98 people in connection with the sweeping fraud cause, which concerns businesses that falsely billed programs under Minnesota’s Department of Human Services (MDHS).

Joseph Thompson, assistant U.S. attorney for Minnesota, said at a press conference earlier this month it is possible that “half or more” of the $18 billion billed to 14 services under MDHS since 2018 is fraudulent. 

Court records reviewed by the Minnesota Star Tribune earlier this month indicate that the alleged fraud is closer to $218 million. 

Walz ordered a third-party audit of the 14 aforementioned programs in October, including the shuttered Housing Stabilization Services program. The Minnesota governor also appointed Tim O’Malley to serve as director of program integrity and strengthen fraud prevention earlier this month.

He added on X that his administration has “spent years cracking down on fraud — referring cases to law enforcement, shutting down and auditing high-risk programs.”