Today, the House Oversight Committee held a hearing with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison to address the widespread and rampant fraud in the state.
During his opening remarks, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer slammed Walz and Ellison for the billions of dollars of fraud that happened on their watch.
"For years, Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison presided over one of the most extensive breakdowns of oversight this Committee has ever examined," Comer said. "Billions of taxpayer dollars were stolen from social services programs while warnings piled up, whistleblowers spoke out, and state officials chose delay and denial over action.
"Federal prosecutors estimate that as much as $9 billion may have been stolen from just fourteen Medicaid programs administered by the State of Minnesota," he continued. "Those programs have cost taxpayers more than $18 billion since 2018, and investigators believe that half or more of that spending may have been lost to fraud."
"That did not happen overnight. As our investigation has shown, it happened because state leadership failed, repeatedly, to intervene," Comer added, noting that Walz's claim his administration addressed fraud "very early" "does not hold up to the facts."
And it's clear Walz has no idea just how extensive the fraud actually was, if his exchange with Rep. Nancy Mace is any indication.
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Mace confronted Walz on the skyrocketing autism program repayments, which went from just over $1 million in 2017 to more than $340 million in 2024.
Tim Walz can’t, or won’t, answer simple questions about the absolutely massive increase in Autism program spending in his state.
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) March 4, 2026
These numbers have been circulating publicly for some time.
This is just insane. What a fraud. pic.twitter.com/eF2nWEL7Le
"How much money was spent on autism in Minnesota in 2017, Governor?" Mace asked.
"I don't have those numbers in front of me, Congresswoman," Walz replied.
"Did you prepare for this hearing today?" Mace asked. "Did you do any preparation for this hearing today?"
"I did," Walz said. "I take Congress seriously."
"And you've seen the numbers about autism fraud in Minnesota," Mace continued, "so we're going to do some Minnesota math with you today, okay. Are you ready?"
Mace then asked Walz how much was spent on autism in his state in 2017.
"I don't know, I wasn't the governor," Walz replied. If that was meant to be a defense, it failed. What it did do, however, is show that the fraud happened on Walz's watch, and he's responsible for it.
"Did you not just say that you prepared for this hearing today?" Mace slammed him before telling Walz the state spent about $1 million on autism in 2017.
When Mace asked about autism spending in 2024, Walz again didn't have the numbers in front of him.
"Were you governor in 2024?" Mace asked. "So your excuse before, that you didn't know what 2017 autism numbers were because you were not governor, and today you cannot answer the numbers about 2024 as governor, and you still said you prepared for this hearing today. It's unbelievable," she said.
"$343 million was spent in 2024," Mace said. "What percent increase is that?"
"I'm not here to be your prop," a snarky Walz replied, "go ahead and tell me." And this is the guy who said he takes Congress seriously?
Doesn't seem like it.
"Are you Governor of Minnesota or not?" Mace asked. "Okay, well, when I'm Governor of South Carolina, you can sure as hell bet that I'm going to know the math. The math is a 34,200 percent increase."
"Do you know the number of children in Minnesota?" Mace then asked.
"I know that Minnesota ranked as a top three state for children in the last year," Walz responded, not answering her question.
"What is the total population of Minnesota?" Mace asked.
"5.7 million," Walz responded, finally answering a question.
"What is the total population of children in Minnesota?" Mace asked again.
Once more, Walz said he didn't have that number in front of him, but he did try to take a shot at Mace for "kicking children off healthcare."
The answer to Mace's question, by the way, is 1.2 million. There are 1.2 million children in Minnesota. According to the Minnesota Autism Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network (MADDMN), roughly 3.6 percent of Minnesota eight-year-olds have autism. That's a fraction of the 1.2 million children under 18 in Minnesota, so the state is spending hundreds of millions.
That is a lot of fraud.
As we told you yesterday, another Somali fraudster just pleaded guilty to a $6 million autism center fraud scheme, where he was paying kickbacks to families to say their children had autism so he could bill the state for services.
Editor’s Note: Help us continue to report the truth about corrupt politicians like Tim Walz.
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