Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz "allowed" a "breathtaking" fraud scheme to grow during the COVID-19 era by ignoring warnings from whistleblowers and state employees, House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington said on Newsmax Tuesday.
"Well, it's what didn't happen, right? You're either coaching it or allowing it to happen, to use an old high school football saying, and Tim Walz allowed it to happen," the Texas Republican told Newsmax's "National Report."
"He got warnings from his own employees, hundreds of employees, whistleblowers that he did not heed and turned the other way," he added.
Arrington's comments came as federal prosecutors in Minnesota have charged nearly five dozen people with felonies, alleging they stole hundreds of millions of dollars from a government program intended to feed children during the pandemic.
Arrington said the alleged theft diverted taxpayer resources from vulnerable Americans.
"You had hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from the hard-earned taxpayer money that would have gone to hungry kids, elderly people who need a home, and autistic kids," he said. "This is a disgusting scope and scale of fraud."
He also pointed to public descriptions of the case by law enforcement officials.
"One prosecutor said, who had prosecuted fraud cases his whole career, [that] the scope and scale of this is breathtaking,” Arrington said.
According to a Manhattan Institute review, as much as $1 billion may have been taken.
There are also allegations that some of the money was later funneled to the terrorist organization al-Shabab, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wants to look into the matter, show host Shaun Kraisman reported.
Arrington said the possibility that funds were routed to support terrorism would deepen the seriousness of the case.
Arrington used the Minnesota case to press a broader argument for tighter federal safeguards, saying Republicans put anti-fraud measures into the "big, beautiful" spending bill passed earlier this year, noting that the effort produced "over $1 trillion in savings," but Democrats opposed those steps.
He also tied the debate to healthcare policy, saying Democrats want Republicans to extend another pandemic-era program he described as vulnerable to abuse, the enhanced premium tax credits connected to the Affordable Care Act.
"Democrats are saying that Republicans need to extend another fraud-ridden, COVID-era program in the enhanced premium tax credits,” Arrington said, adding that "6 million-plus ineligible people" received benefits.
Meanwhile, Arrington said the legal cases are ongoing in Minnesota.
"We're talking about 50-plus people who've already been convicted. And the prosecution is still ongoing."
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