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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will accuse top Minnesota government officials of being “asleep at the wheel” at the start of his panel’s high-profile hearing into fraud allegations.
In Comer’s opening statement, obtained by Fox News Digital, he is expected to ask whether “Governor Tim WaltzAttorney General Keith Ellison and Minnesota Democratic leaders” were negligent or “complicit” in the growing scandal.
“Minnesota’s social services – which are funded by you, the American taxpayer – are being ripped off. The most vulnerable are suffering,” Comer will say, according to his prepared remarks.
“The fraudsters – many of whom are from Minnesota’s Somali community – stole programs intended to feed children in need, provide services to children with autism, house low-income and disabled Americans, and provide health care to vulnerable Medicaid beneficiaries.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol October 21, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have charged several people with steal more than $240 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program through the Minnesota-based nonprofit Feeding our future.
However, the investigation has since expanded to include several state-run programs under investigation for potential fraud. Publicly funded childcare providers, primarily within the Somali community, are also under scrutiny.
U.S. attorneys have argued that billions more dollars could have fallen prey to state fraud, which Walz countered while accusing the Republicans to politicize the scandal.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz holds a press conference at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, January 5, 2026. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
“Fraudsters like these take millions to enrich themselves without providing anything, by exaggerating or outright faking services. How many children have gone hungry because the fraudsters stole money intended to provide them with food?” The comer will say.
KAROLINE LEAVITT WARNS ‘PEOPLE WILL BE HANDCUFFED’ AS FED ZEROES MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL
“How many autistic children have been denied services because fraudsters have sent that money overseas instead? How many low-income seniors, people with disabilities, or people with mental illnesses have been denied access to housing because fraudsters have exhausted their resources and pocketed the money for themselves?”
Comer will say in his statement that the revelations made so far are “just the tip of the iceberg.”
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, Republican of Minnesota, during a television interview at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, September 30, 2025. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Wednesday hearingwhich will begin at 10 a.m. ET, will feature testimony from three Republicans to the state legislature.
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Comer summoned Walz and Ellison to a follow-up audience on February 10, but it is not yet known whether they will attend.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., will also participate in Wednesday’s hearing, Fox News Digital reported. Emmer is a longtime critic of the Walz administration and represents a district that is home to two of the three GOP witnesses at the hearing.
