The House Oversight report landed Monday. By Monday night, it had teeth.

Vice President JD Vance announced that he referred allegations involving Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to the Justice Department’s Fraud Division for a potential criminal investigation over alleged fraud in federally funded social services programs.

Vance made the announcement on Fox News when asked about the freshly released committee report.

“We’re certainly going to investigate this, Jesse,” Vance said, according to Fox News. “And before I did, we actually referred this particular case to the Department of Justice for a full criminal investigation.”

The report had asked for action. Vance answered.

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Vance was tapped in February to lead President Trump’s White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud after the president declared a war on fraud. The Minnesota allegations now sit squarely inside that mandate.

The House Oversight Committee laid out the case this way in its official release:

The report exposes how senior Minnesota state officials, including Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison, were aware of widespread taxpayer fraud in federally funded social programs for years, possessed the authority to stop payments and ban fraudulent providers from participating in these programs, but repeatedly failed to act.

As a result, billions of American taxpayer dollars were potentially paid to fraudulent actors. The report includes testimony and documents obtained by the Committee showing that Minnesota state leaders consistently failed to address known fraud concerns and retaliated against state employees who sought to protect taxpayer funds, allowing criminal schemes to flourish and diverting critical resources from vulnerable Americans.

“Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison are responsible for one of the most stunning oversight failures this Committee has ever examined. Today’s report is the culmination of months of investigative work and reveals hard evidence showing how the Walz Administration failed to stop widespread fraud, allowing criminals to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers.

Billions of dollars were stolen because Minnesota state leaders turned a blind eye to rampant fraud and retaliated against state employees who dared to raise concerns. It is now clear the Walz Administration chose to protect the system rather than protect the taxpayer.

Americans are fed up with fraud and expect action from the government entrusted with their hard-earned money.

The House Oversight Committee has now passed over a dozen bills aimed at protecting taxpayer funds and strengthening oversight of federal programs ripe for fraud. This Committee will continue to work alongside President Trump’s anti-fraud task force to have the backs of hardworking Americans,” said House Committee on Oversight and Government Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

The dollar figures are staggering.

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The committee’s final staff report estimates that $300 million in federal child nutrition funds and potentially $9 billion in Medicaid-related funds were lost or placed at serious risk.

The House Oversight Committee detailed the findings in its majority staff work:

In December 2025, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform launched an investigation into fraud plaguing Minnesota’s social services programs that Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison failed to halt despite repeated warnings.

The Committee’s investigation found that senior officials in Minnesota state government, including Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison, were aware of widespread fraud in federally funded social services programs for years, possessed the legal and procedural authority to stop payments and ban fraudulent providers from participating in these programs, but repeatedly failed to act.

As a result, billions of American taxpayer dollars were potentially paid to fraudulent actors. These fraudulently obtained funds likely funded international terrorist networks among other bad actors, while vulnerable populations were harmed and whistleblowers were ignored, sidelined, and retaliated against.

Testimony and documents obtained to date establish a consistent pattern: fraud warnings were elevated to the most senior levels of the Minnesota state government, meaningful corrective action was delayed or avoided, and payments continued long after credible signs of fraud emerged.

These failures allowed an estimated $300 million in federal child nutrition funds and potentially $9 billion in Medicaid-related funds to be lost or placed at serious risk.

It is imperative that President Trump’s Anti-Fraud Task Force, the Department of Justice, and all relevant law enforcement and regulatory agencies perform a thorough review of Minnesota’s social services program reimbursements and enrollment from 2019 to the present.

These are committee findings and allegations, not criminal convictions. Neither Walz nor Ellison has been charged.

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That distinction is exactly why the referral matters. Comer asked the executive branch to take the next step, and Vance did.

Chairman James Comer sent the request to Vance before the referral became public:

Today, I write to request that the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud review all Minnesota social services programs for vulnerabilities to fraud.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has uncovered evidence of a massive failure of leadership in Minnesota’s state government, allowing criminal enterprises to steal billions of dollars in federal taxpayer funds from vulnerable Americans. Specifically, our investigation found that senior Minnesota officials in the administrations of Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison were aware of widespread taxpayer fraud for years, possessed clear authority to stop payments and ban fraudulent providers, but repeatedly failed to act.

The Committee has found no evidence that the FBI, or any other federal law enforcement agency, directed Minnesota officials to continue payments to Feeding Our Future or any other suspected fraudulent provider.

We request the Task Force direct the appropriate agencies to conduct a thorough review of Minnesota’s social services programs, including but not limited to all integrity measures, oversight controls, reimbursements, and enrollment in federal programs since 2019.

The Oversight Committee thanked Vance publicly and tied the move directly to taxpayers.

Walz has already telegraphed how he plans to fight this.

When Vance and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz earlier paused federal Medicaid reimbursements to Minnesota, Walz said the pause had nothing to do with fraud and called it a campaign of retribution, according to Fox News.

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That defense gets harder to sell once the allegations are sitting with DOJ’s new Fraud Division.

Vance summed up the stakes plainly: Minnesota state officials are not above the law, and those who facilitated fraud, lied under oath, or harassed whistleblowers must face justice.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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