Great news: Congress tells Walz admin to turn over Feeding our Future docs
By: Senator Steve Drazkowski
A little more than a year ago the first indictments in the massive Feeding Our Future fraud scandal were announced. In that time, 60 individuals have been charged in connection with the more than $250 million fraud scheme – the largest pandemic-related fraud case on record. The entire program was given $500 million in taxpayer dollars, so these criminals stole more than half of it. They stole this money to finance their extravagant lifestyles, including the purchases of lavish houses, cars, a plane, and other luxury items.
We have learned quite a bit about the fraudsters but not much about what exactly happened within the Governor’s administration to allow the fraud. That is because they continue to stonewall requests for detailed answers and accountability. What we do know is that the Walz Administration did not do enough, fast enough, to prevent the theft of taxpayer dollars as it was happening.
Many of my colleagues and I have been seeking answers to this from the beginning. That is why I was glad to see the Republican members of Minnesota’s Congressional delegation, along with House committee chairs for Oversight and Education, send a letter to Minnesota Education Commissioner Willie Jett and Gov. Tim Walz telling them to provide information related to the oversight failures that led to the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme.
This scandal is a disgrace and insult to the taxpayers of Minnesota. Taxpayers had $250 million stolen from them in this scheme alone. Feeding Our Future fraudsters were able to flourish due to an astounding lack of scrutiny and oversight by Gov. Tim Walz and his administration.
The congressional delegation’s request for documents related to the oversight of the Feeding Our Future program is a critical step in unraveling how such a colossal abuse of taxpayer dollars was allowed to occur. The public deserves to understand the extent of the Walz administration’s knowledge and response to the fraud.
Taxpayers deserve to know what happened, and they deserve confidence that it will not happen again.
It also underscores the importance of oversight at every level of government funding and program management. There are far too many examples of waste, fraud, and abuse in government. We must bring every one of these abuses to light so we can improve monitoring and accountability across the board. The Feeding Our Future scandal, which represents a shocking misuse of taxpayer money, reflects a deeper issue within government — a lack of scrutiny and prompt action in the face of clear warning signs.
Getting to the bottom of this fraud is a necessary step toward restoring public trust in government. It serves as a reminder that accountability in public office is not optional – it is expected. Demanding transparency and accountability is how we protect taxpayer money from being stolen again.
The people of Minnesota deserve leaders who will fight fraud and corruption, not turn a blind eye to it. That is why I look forward to seeing the results of the Republican Congressional delegation’s request for information. We need to shine a bright light on what went wrong so we can fix it and ensure it never happens again. The Walz administration cannot continue to hide from accountability.