The US health department announced it was going to freeze federal funding for certain programs for needy families over fraud concerns. The administration zeroed in on Minnesota last week after an unproven viral video.
The Trump administration announced Tuesday it was going to withhold funding for child care and other programs for needy families in five Democrat-led states over fraud concerns.
The administration last week paused millions in annual aid to day care centers in Minnesota amid allegations of fraud.
“For too long, Democrat-led states and governors have been have been complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch,” US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement.
The HHS offered no evidence of fraud in the five states that stand to be impacted — California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York.
Freeze applies to child care funds, social services
The freeze applies to the “Child Care and Development Fund” worth $2.4 billion (€2.2 billion), the “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families” worth $7.35 billion and the “Social Services Block Grant” worth $869 million.
HHS said it had notified the five states and that they would require extra documentation to access the funds.
The New York Post was the first to report the funding freeze for certain social services on Monday, citing unnamed federal officials that expressed “concerns that the benefits were fraudulently funneled to non-citizens.”
Trump administration intensifies fraud scrutiny in Minnesota after viral video
The HHS announced last week that it would freeze all federal child care payments to Minnesota amid fraud allegations.
The allegations stem from a viral video that caught the attention of the Trump administration that cited the video in its decision to cut off funding to the state.
The video by right-wing YouTuber Nick Shirley is 43 minutes long and shows him visiting specific federal subsidized day care centers run by Somali residents in Minneapolis. He was largely unable to enter the facilities, which he used as evidence to justify his allegations of fraud.
Tim Walz drops bid for third term as Minnesota governor
The Democratic governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, announced on Monday that he was going to step out of the 2026 race for governor as the scandal in the state intensified.
Walz, who was the former Democratic vice presidential candidate, had already clashed with Trump many times.
Walz said at the beginning of this month that Minnesota has spent years cracking down on fraud, but Trump’s “long game” aimed to defund programs that help people.
Edited by: Zac Crellin
DW News
