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The Biden-era chaos in Minnesota just met a new, no-nonsense ultimatum from Washington — CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz publicly warned Gov. Tim Walz that Minnesota has 60 days to fix what federal investigators are calling massive Medicaid corruption or the feds will stop paying their share. This is not theater; it’s a direct challenge to the finger-pointing, permissive governing that has allowed taxpayers’ money to vanish.
Oz told reporters and posted on social media that more than $1 billion has been siphoned off through brazen abuse of state Medicaid programs, naming runaway spending in schemes like Housing Stabilization Services and the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program as examples of how the system was gamed. Minnesotans who work hard and play by the rules should be outraged that programs meant to help the vulnerable have been turned into a slush fund for criminals.
CMS has already started to shut down the worst of the exploited programs and frozen new provider enrollments in the most vulnerable categories, and Oz demanded concrete fixes: weekly anti-fraud reports, a six-month enrollment freeze for high-risk providers, full vetting of current providers, and a corrective action plan. If Walz and state officials refuse to cooperate seriously, the federal government has made clear it will pull the plug on funding — an outcome that should terrify any jaded politician who thinks identity politics excuses incompetence.
This scandal builds on the Feeding Our Future prosecutions and other federal cases that exposed a web of theft from pandemic-era programs — convictions and sentences mounting as Justice Department investigations reveal how tens or hundreds of millions were laundered and spent on luxury homes, cars, and foreign real estate. The DOJ’s work shows this isn’t isolated bad actors; it’s institutional failure mixed with willful blindness from local overseers who failed to stop the theft.
Democrats in Minnesota can’t paper over this with moralizing lectures — state workers, whistleblowers, and even local officials are publicly blasting Walz for failing to act, while conservatives across the country demand accountability. Oz even raised the alarming allegation that some of the money may have gone to extremist groups, though major outlets note that funneling to terrorist organizations remains an allegation under investigation. Either way, the unanswered questions warrant urgent, exhaustive federal scrutiny.
Enough with the soft-on-fraud, soft-on-crime playbook. If a governor won’t protect taxpayer dollars and the communities who rely on honest services, then federal leverage must be used to force reforms, prosecutions, and real oversight — not PR statements and excuses. Dr. Oz and the Trump administration are finally using the tools of the federal government to demand results, and Washington should not hesitate to follow through.
The American people deserve a government that defends their wallets and their safety, not one that excuses corruption in the name of cronyism or political convenience. Republicans should seize this moment to press for transparent audits, criminal referrals where warranted, and meaningful change to stop Washington and state bureaucracies from being cash machines for fraud. Minnesotans — and every taxpayer — will be watching whether Walz cleans house or continues to protect a system that has been looted.
