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Washington should be grateful that at least one member of Congress still remembers what oversight means. House Oversight Chairman Rep. James Comer is taking off the gloves, publicly demanding that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz explain how runaway fraud in state social programs happened on his watch. Comer’s blunt message — that those responsible cannot simply hide behind press statements — is exactly the sort of muscle the American people deserve when their tax dollars vanish into the hands of grifters.
The fraud uncovered in Minnesota is not a garden-variety bookkeeping error; it is the largest COVID-era theft of public funds uncovered in recent years, with the Feeding Our Future scheme alone accounting for hundreds of millions in alleged losses. Federal prosecutors have charged scores of defendants and detailed how purported nonprofit sponsorships exploded reimbursement claims from a few million dollars to well into the hundreds of millions in 2020–2021. This isn’t theory or partisan spin — it’s a federal criminal indictment showing brazen, systemic abuse of programs meant to feed children.
Federal agencies have begun to move because the evidence is piling up, and the consequences for states could be severe: the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal bodies have demanded detailed records and paused certain payments while they sort this out. Minnesota has been given hard deadlines to produce documents about who received federal child-care funds and how oversight was performed, because millions of dollars in childcare assistance are at stake and families deserve certainty. The stakes are real for the taxpayers and for the parents who rely on these services — no politician’s reelection campaign should be more important than stopping this theft.
Comer isn’t just jawboning; he’s pressing witnesses, courting whistleblowers and preparing subpoenas to follow the money and hold officials to account. Republican state lawmakers, mayors and local officials have told Congress the problem was flagged repeatedly and ignored in St. Paul, and Comer has formally invited Gov. Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison to testify before the committee — they owe the taxpayers straight answers. If Walz truly believes he’s innocent or that the problem is overblown, he should step up and clear the air under oath instead of hiding behind talking points.
The probes have even widened to questions some federal officials say need checking beyond bookkeeping — including explosive claims that misdirected funds may have reached networks with troubling ties overseas. Treasury and other officials are now looking at whether some of the siphoned dollars were routed in ways that demand a national-security lens, a nightmare scenario that makes this scandal more than just a local embarrassment. The idea that taxpayers’ money could be sent anywhere outside legitimate American hands should infuriate every voter, regardless of party.
Let’s be clear: this is a failure of leadership in Minnesota and of a national media that refused for years to look closely at what was happening in plain sight. Instead of reflexive defenses and lectures about “not demonizing communities,” responsible leaders should have demanded audits, prosecutions and tightened controls the moment anomalies exploded. Conservatives are right to demand accountability — not to shame entire communities, but to punish thieves, fix broken systems, and protect honest families from rising taxes and cut services.
Americans who pay taxes deserve honest government, not political theater. Comer and Republicans in Congress are finally doing the job Democrats in power should have done long ago: putting facts under oath, following the money, and ensuring those who betrayed the public trust face real consequences. If Washington won’t act, voters will remember come election season — and hardworking Americans will make sure those who let this happen are replaced with leaders who put citizens first.
