House GOP Whip Tom Emmer targets Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for social services fraud scandal

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, the highest-ranking Minnesotan in Congress, is demanding accountability in his state’s social services fraud scandal.

Mr. Emmer, the third highest-ranking House Republican official, criticized Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration and questioned the scope of the crisis.

Minnesota’s social services programs have received national attention for potentially billions of dollars’ worth of fraud and abuse among several social services programs. Investigators have documented more than $200 million in fraud through the Education Department’s meals program and Medicaid services.

“I think as they start to peel this onion back, which just seems to be getting deeper and deeper and broader and broader, whoever was responsible needs to be held accountable,” Mr. Emmer told Fox News Digital.

He also insinuated that Mr. Walz’s Democratic administration had to have been aware of the massive and widespread fraud.

“This thing is mushrooming into a much bigger fraud issue spanning over several different programs and potentially different jurisdictions,” Mr. Emmer said. “As this thing mushrooms, number one, let’s make sure we hold the people accountable. I will tell you what I believe. My personal opinion is there is no way that a billion dollars-plus got its way out of the Walz administration without someone in the administration being aware and/or complicit.”

Federal prosecutors have suggested that Minnesota’s social services programs may have been victims of billions of dollars’ worth of fraud and abuse since 2018.

In a Thursday press conference, federal authorities in Minnesota announced that 14 programs have been identified as containing fraud, having cost taxpayers $18 billion overall since 2018.

“That’s what we need to find out — how high does that go? According to our U.S. attorney, it goes to the highest level of Minnesota government. He didn’t use names, but I know what the highest level is,” Mr. Emmer said. “We’ll see. Let’s see the proof.”

Republicans have frequently targeted Mr. Walz’s administration for not doing enough to stop the fraud sooner, as the governor said he has been working to crack down on fraud.

In mid December, Mr. Walz tapped Tim O’Malley, a former FBI agent and superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, to be Minnesota’s new director of program integrity — a newly created position to assist in state efforts to address fraud.

Mr. Walz, who has been governor since 2018 and was Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ running mate in 2024, told reporters on Friday: “This is on my watch. I am accountable for this. And more importantly, I am the one that will fix it.”

He also questioned the sincerity behind the federal prosecutors’ accusations, pointing to potential political motivation.

Earlier this month, Rep. James Comer, Kentucky Republican and chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced the committee would look into “widespread fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs under Governor Tim Walz’s watch.”