By Morgan Sweeney
The Center Square

The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is set to hold its first of two scheduled hearings Wednesday on the “fraud and misuse of federal funds in Minnesota.”

Three Republican Minnesota state lawmakers who “sounded the alarm” in the past on some of the rampant fraud of its social services programs have been called to testify. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz – who just announced Monday that he’s dropping out of the 2026 governor’s race – and the state’s attorney general have been invited to testify at the second hearing, currently scheduled for Feb. 10.

“American taxpayers demand and deserve accountability for the theft of their hard-earned money,” said U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the committee’s chairman. “The U.S. Department of Justice is actively investigating, prosecuting, and charging fraudsters who have stolen billions from taxpayers and Congress has a duty to… hold offenders accountable.”

Investigations have identified roughly $9 billion in government funds awarded to alleged fraudulent businesses or individuals posing as legitimate providers within Minnesota’s taxpayer-funded social services programs – and those investigations are still ongoing. The $250 million Feeding Our Future pandemic relief scheme was the first major case in what has since been revealed to be a suspected broader pattern of high-dollar fraudulent enterprises taking advantage of those programs.

The magnitude of the fraud, coupled with reports that concerns were raised internally but potentially dismissed for political reasons, pressured Walz to withdraw his bid for reelection.

“This misconduct cannot be swept aside, and Congress will not stop until taxpayers get the answers and accountability they deserve,” Comer said in a statement.

The committee hopes to uncover why this type of fraud has been so prolific in Minnesota and some potential solutions to prevent it going forward.

As numerous examples of fraudulent child care centers have been exposed, the Trump administration has halted federal child care funding to Minnesota.