WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress is digging deeper into serious fraud claims about fraud among several Somali-run childcare centers in Minnesota.
The congressional inquiry by the House Oversight Committee comes after a conservative content creator published a video visiting several childcare centers and claiming they illegally collected federal money meant for low-income families.
The allegations spread fast online, but state investigators say their initial findings don’t match the outrage. Minnesota officials report many of the daycare centers accused of fraud are still operating normally, with no immediate violations uncovered.
“It’s clear to me that there’s rampant fraud,” said Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., who sits on the Oversight Committee. “There should be prosecutions over this because the facts are lining themselves up to point to the fact that there was willful ignorance going on.”
On Capitol Hill Wednesday, House Oversight Republicans told a very different story. Congressman Nick Langworthy sits on the committee and believes the evidence is damning.
“It’s disgusting. And it draws every single federal expenditure under scrutiny,” Langworthy said. “This could be $9 billion- and is one state. This has opened up the ‘what if’ to people in Congress, across the country — it casts doubt on the entire system.”
The “what if” and the doubt has prompted Vice President JD Vance and the Trump administration to announce a new position at the Department of Justice to handle nationwide fraud.
“We are creating a new assistant attorney general position who will have nationwide jurisdiction over the issue of fraud,” the vice president said, while announcing the position during a White House press briefing Thursday. “Now, of course, that person’s efforts will start and focus primarily in Minnesota, but it is going to be a nationwide effort.”
The announcement comes just days after the administration announced it would freeze billions of federal childcare dollars to five Democrat-led states.
Democrats agree fraud needs to be addressed, but don’t want to see it used as an excuse “to rip away aid from innocent people who follow the rules and need help in our society,” Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said during Wednesday’s hearing.
On the heels of Wednesday’s contentious hearing, focused on Minnesota, came the news that 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an officer during a clash between Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and protesters in Minneapolis.
“It’s a heartbreaking situation. It didn’t need to happen,” Langworthy said. “You can protest. You can object. You can say anything that’s on your mind in this country. There’s no guardrails. You cannot impede in a law enforcement effort and you cannot threaten the lives of law enforcement.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the agents’ actions, saying agents were acting in self-defense. Local and state leaders say otherwise.
“Having seen the video of myself, I want to tell everybody directly, that is bull—,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, D.
“We are under assault like no other time in our state’s history because of a petty, vile administration that doesn’t care about the well-being of Minnesotans,” said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, D.
Langworthy said another hearing on Minnesota fraud is scheduled for early February with the Minnesota attorney general and Walz, who announced Monday he would not seek reelection for governor.
