(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is facing renewed scrutiny after his administration turned a blind eye to one of the largest COVID-19 relief fraud schemes over concerns it would anger a subset of Somali Americans.
The criticism has long simmered but intensified on Saturday on social media when even the leftist New York Times explored how the scheme went largely undetected under Walz’s watch.
The outlet reported that Democratic officials in the state failed to properly exercise oversight to avoid alienating Somalis, a key Democratic voting bloc that federal prosecutors say was largely responsible for the scheme.
The political concern cost taxpayers $1 billion in stolen taxpayer money, more than the amount that Minnesota spends annually on its Department of Corrections, according to the Times.
The criminality taking place in Tim Walz and Keith Ellison’s Minnesota is out of control.
You know it’s bad when this is how the Times frames it: “How Fraud Swamped Minnesota’s Social Services System on Tim Walz’s Watch
Prosecutors say members of the Somali diaspora, a group… pic.twitter.com/cQxMhGST04
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) November 29, 2025
The scheme involved a non-profit called Feeding Our Future, which partnered with dozens of local businesses. The groups submitted invoices to state agencies, claiming to have provided meals to children and homeless people during the pandemic
In reality, federal prosecutors said the meals never existed and that the funds were spent on luxury cars, homes and even foreign real estate.
The program’s original budget of $2.6 million in 2020 quickly spiked to more than $104 million in 2024, as reported by the Times, illustrating how easy it was for companies to receive funds from the government.
A report from Minnesota’s nonpartisan Office of Legislative Auditor found that the Walz administration ignored red flags over fears that denying reimbursement to minority-owned businesses could park media accusations of racism.
Kayseh Magan, a Somali American who worked at the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, told the Times that administration officials were hesitant to scrutinize invoices due to potential backlash from the Somali community.
“There is a perception that forcefully tackling this issue might cause political backlash among the Somali community, which is a core voting bloc” for Democrats, Magan said.
Walz, who is running for a third term as governor, faces mounting scrutiny over his administration’s deliberate disregard of warning signs about the fraud.
