Minnesota lawmakers and officials criticized Gov. Tim Walz for not holding his administration accountable for "massive" fraud schemes related to pandemic-era aid programs, saying the responsibility "falls squarely on his shoulders."
"When he is not holding any commissioners responsible, then yes, Governor Walz is responsible for the fraud that has been ongoing in the state of Minnesota," state House GOP leader Lisa Demuth told CNN. "It falls squarely on his shoulders."
In 2022, Minnesota’s Office of the Legislative Auditor launched a series of investigations into allegations of fraud involving the state’s pandemic funding. One audit revealed that bonus checks intended for frontline employees were issued to unqualified recipients, while another highlighted the administration's failure to oversee Feeding Our Future, a program designed to feed needy children. Prosecutors said this oversight led to a "massive" fraud scheme. The Walz administration repeatedly downplayed or ignored the allegations, the state’s nonpartisan auditor, Judy Randall, told CNN.
Randall added that Walz has neglected to hold anyone accountable, as he has not fired anyone in his administration connected to her office’s investigations.
Randall said the state’s response to the investigation into Feeding Our Future was resentful and dismissive, a tone GOP critics believe traces back to Walz’s own "hostility."
"The governor’s appointees across the board at almost all agencies have been hostile and uncooperative when citizens are seeking transparency and oversight through the legislative auditor," state Sen. Mark Koran, the Republican vice chair of the state’s bipartisan legislative audit commission, told CNN. "The hostility is led by Governor Walz."
"The buck is still running down the street and stopping nowhere, and that is unacceptable," Democratic state Sen. Ann Rest said at a hearing earlier this summer about the state’s response to the fraud case.
Blois Olson, a longtime political analyst in Minnesota, said that fraud has become a "trend" in Walz’s administration.
"One instance is not new for a state, any state," he said. "Multiple instances in the same administration on public-program fraud becomes a trend or a culture that the legislative auditor says is not right and we need to change."