It took less than 24 hours for Tim Walz to announce he has a plan to fix the fraud issues in Minnesota…eventually that is. Gee, one has to wonder why the sudden rush?

Well, this announcement from the new Fraud Czar certainly got his shorts in all sorts of knots. 

JD Vance: "We're announcing today that we have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that is going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people's tax… pic.twitter.com/ccmOZlpBR5

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 25, 2026

Keep in mind, Tim Walz has been quite insistent that Trump et al are being super mean. That the fraud they speak of and have receipts for aren’t really happening. I guess all those LEARING centers were just figments of our imaginations? According to Tim Walz this is about retribution from Trump. 

This is a campaign of retribution. Trump is weaponizing the entirety of the federal government to punish blue states like Minnesota.

These cuts will be devastating for veterans, families with young kids, folks with disabilities, and working people across our state.

— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) February 25, 2026

Oh really dude? Really? It’s your language that has contributed to the violent climate that led to Renee Good and Prettis thinking they could drive after and physically impede ICE law enforcement with zero repercussions! 

That said, Walz has been doing his very best to gaslight tap dance around the subject of the very real fraud permeating Minnesota. The news stories (other than the Minneapolis Star Tribune) tell us otherwise, as do the statistics of the fraud uncovered. 

The amount of fraud is just flipping insane. And yet Tim Walz didn’t want to, still doesn’t I’m sure, address it directly. Until JD Vance and Dr. Oz forced his hand by showing receipts and withholding Medicaid funds. Suddenly Tim Walz has a plan to fix things...eventually.

The governor’s long list of proposals is aimed at better detection and oversight, strengthened investigative and enforcement authority and increased criminal penalties. One of them is the creation of a centralized Office of the Inspector General to lead fraud prevention efforts. The state Senate passed a bipartisan inspector general bill last year. But it remains stalled in the House amid disagreements over whether it should have law enforcement authority or, as the Walz administration prefers, just focus on investigations and leave enforcement up to the existing state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

~Snip

Officials at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which administers Medicaid, noted that withholding $259.5 million — retroactive to the fourth quarter of 2025 — follows earlier federal action to withhold more than $2 billion in annual Medicaid funding to the state. The agency said the state submitted a corrective action plan earlier, and is still in the process of appealing that decision.

The state agency said it has implemented several new processes and reforms to prevent and detect Medicaid fraud since 2024. The changes included identifying areas at high risk of fraud, imposing stricter controls such as criminal background checks on providers, and more unannounced site visits.

Read all of that again. Is there anything in all of that about having the agencies do internal reviews? Nope. And this, via Powerline, is one of the reasons why. 

The person who oversaw runaway fraud in every social service program under her control has been appointed to a permanent position in Minnesota.
Because, of course! https://t.co/aNT7xBi5XT

— Ann Bauer (@annbauerwriter) February 23, 2026

That’s correct. Instead of realizing that those at the top of the agencies are part of the problem, some get elevated to higher positions with added blinders concerning the fraud permeating the many social/welfare programs the state has. In other words, all the foxes are now supposedly guarding the henhouse. And Timmy’s additional proposals are much the same. 

Mr. Walz’s proposals include efforts to increase the statute of limitations for certain fraud offenses. He also is calling for an expansion of the attorney general’s Medicaid fraud unit and for the establishment of an inspector general’s office with oversight of programs run by all state agencies.

Mr. Walz also proposed permanently shutting down a Medicaid-funded program launched in 2020 to help people find and keep housing. The cost of that program exploded over the years as scores of companies began submitting bogus claims, according to federal prosecutors. Medicaid is jointly funded by the federal and state governments.

The attorney general is Keith Ellison. Who is on record essentially claiming ‘nothing to see here, move along’ about all the fraud across the state. Evidently neither he nor Tim are concerned about the fraudulent autism centers that are bilking money from the taxpayers but not doing a damned thing for actual autistics and the families supporting them. Instead they are both super defensive.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement that his team has secured over 300 Medicaid fraud convictions since he took office in 2019. And he noted that he called on the Legislature earlier Wednesday to give him more staff and new legal tools to combat Medicaid fraud.

“Courts have repeatedly found that their pattern of cutting first and asking questions later is illegal, and if the federal government is unlawfully withholding money meant for the 1.2 million low-income Minnesotans on Medicaid, we will see them in court,” Ellison said.

Really? He’s prosecuted that many cases? The majority of convictions are from FEDERAL cases, not state cases. 

Tim is big mad at…President Trump while claiming all the fraud is just a figment of our imaginations. 

Here’s the thing. The fraud is a very real issue. One that people are waking up to. Yet Tim Walz is out there trying to claim it’s not a big deal and legislation that might pass this year or next will magically solve the problem. 

How about cleaning house across the state agencies involved instead of promoting those involved in the fraud? 

Tim’s hoping this legislation announcement of fraud problems getting solved eventually will deter JD Vance from coming in to investigate. Yeah, that’s not going to happen. 

Feature Photo Credit: Original artwork by victory girls Darleen Click