Chairman Comer Widens Investigation into Fraud in Minnesota’s Social Services Programs
WASHINGTON—Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today is expanding the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s investigation into massive fraud in Minnesota’s social services program under the watch of Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison. In a new letter to the Minnesota Legislative Auditor Judy Randall, Chairman Comer seeks documents and communication related to any review conducted regarding the Minnesota Department of Human Services and allegations of fraud. Additionally, Chairman Comer is requesting that the Temporary Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Shireen Gandhi, appear for a transcribed interview on January 30, 2026.
In December 2025, the House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into the extensive money laundering and fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs that has been uncovered by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota. Criminals in Minnesota have stolen an estimated $9 billion in taxpayer funds intended to feed children, support autistic children, house low-income and disabled Americans, and provide healthcare to vulnerable Medicaid recipients.
Chairman Comer has called on Minnesota Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison to provide documents, communications, and records about widespread fraud that occurred under their watch, and to testify at public hearing on February 10, 2026. Chairman Comer has also requested the U.S. Department of the Treasury provide all relevant Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to support the Committee’s investigation into fraud in Minnesota, and requested transcribed interviews with several current and former Minnesota state officials.
On January 6, 2026, the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor released a bombshell report finding that the Department of Human Services’ Behavioral Health Administration failed to comply with most requirements and lacked adequate internal controls over grant funds to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. For example, the report highlighted a grantee who received nearly $680,000 from the Behavioral Health Administration for just one month of work but was unable to provide any documentation or proof that the work was completed. The grant manager who approved the payment then left the agency only days later to take a job with the grant recipient.
On January 7, 2026, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on “Oversight of Fraud and Misuse of Federal Funds in Minnesota: Part I,” where the Committee heard from Minnesota state lawmakers who have sounded the alarm on fraud. Members of Congress and the Minnesota state lawmakers who testified described how many of these schemes were concentrated within the Minnesota’s Somali community, with some taxpayer dollars potentially diverted to terrorist networks overseas. State lawmakers testified that Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison failed to take action to address this widespread fraud and have retaliated against whistleblowers who raised concerns.
Read the letters sent today here:
- Judy Randall, Legislative Auditor, Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor
- Shireen Gandhi, Temporary Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Human Services