REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo // REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
(Washington D.C.) – House Republicans are turning up the heat on Minnesota’s embattled social services system, with James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announcing a slate of hearings aimed squarely at alleged fraud inside state-run programs — and putting Tim Walz on the hot seat.
The committee’s first hearing is scheduled for Jan. 7, when Minnesota state Reps. Kristin Robbins, Walter Hudson, and Marion Rarick — all Republicans — are set to testify. Comer has also invited Gov. Walz and Keith Ellison to appear before the committee on Feb. 10, signaling that federal scrutiny is escalating beyond state-level finger-pointing.
In a statement, Comer accused Walz and Ellison of failing taxpayers. “They have either been asleep at the wheel or complicit in a massive fraud involving taxpayer dollars in Minnesota’s social services programs,” Comer said, adding that “American taxpayers demand and deserve accountability for the theft of their hard-earned money.”
Walz’s office pushed back, telling The Hill the governor is “happy to work with Congress,” while dismissing the Oversight Committee as prone to “circus hearings that have nothing to do with the issue at hand.” Ellison’s office said the attorney general would review Comer’s invitation and respond later, while highlighting Ellison’s record of prosecuting more than 300 Medicaid fraud cases and securing over $80 million in recoveries and restitution.
Federal attention has intensified in recent weeks. Following a viral investigation by conservative content creator Nick Shirley, the Department of Homeland Security dispatched investigative agents to Minneapolis. The Small Business Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services also paused certain payments to Minnesota programs pending review.
