The Trump administration has indefinitely frozen federal child care funding allocated to Minnesota, declaring that no further taxpayer dollars will be released without strict verification. The move follows a series of high-profile fraud scandals that have plagued the state’s social safety net programs in recent years.
Jim O’Neill, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), announced the freeze on Tuesday on the social platform X, stating the decision is a direct response to “blatant fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country.”
“We have turned off the money spigot, and we are finding the fraud,” O’Neill wrote.
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Under the new directives, all payments routed through the Administration for Children and Families—an agency under the U.S. Health and Human Services Department—will now require “justification and a receipt or photo evidence” before funds are disbursed. To further tighten oversight, federal officials have launched a dedicated hotline and email address for reporting suspicious activity.
The crackdown comes in the wake of the massive “Feeding Our Future” scandal, a $300 million scheme that prosecutors have called the largest pandemic-era fraud in the nation. To date, 57 defendants in Minnesota have been convicted for exploiting the state-run, federally funded program meant to feed children.
However, federal authorities suggest the abuse may be far more widespread. Earlier this month, a federal prosecutor alleged that half or more of the approximately $18 billion in federal funds supporting 14 different programs in Minnesota since 2018 may have been stolen.
READ: Minnesota Fraud Scandal Ignites Battle Over Citizenship, Deportation
O’Neill also referenced reports from a right-wing influencer regarding alleged fraud at day care centers operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis. In response, O’Neill said he has demanded Minnesota Governor Tim Walz submit a comprehensive audit of these specific centers, including attendance records, licenses, inspection histories, and complaint logs.
Governor Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, has defended his administration’s handling of the issue while acknowledging the severity of the theft. Walz stated that his office “will continue to work with federal partners to ensure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught.”
An audit commissioned by the state is due by late January, which Walz says will provide a clearer picture of the financial losses. He emphasized that his administration is already taking aggressive steps to prevent further exploitation of the system.
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Amid the intensifying scrutiny, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota’s most prominent Somali American official, issued a caution against collective punishment. She urged the public and officials not to blame the entire Somali community for the criminal actions of a relative few.
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