House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) has responded to reports of large-scale welfare fraud in Minnesota, where over $1 billion in federal funds meant for child nutrition, elderly care, and autism assistance was reportedly stolen during the pandemic. Arrington attributed the losses to failures under Governor Tim Walz’s administration and noted that these incidents occurred despite warnings from state employees.
Arrington criticized congressional Democrats for opposing Republican efforts to address waste and fraud in federal welfare programs. He stated, "It’s important to note, Democrats fought tooth and nail against congressional Republicans’ efforts to root out over a trillion dollars in waste and fraud in federal welfare programs in the Big Beautiful Bill."
He further claimed that Democrats later sought to reverse anti-fraud measures as part of negotiations related to a potential government shutdown. "Next, Democrats attempted to reverse those anti-fraud measures as leverage for their government shutdown ploy. Now, congressional Democrats want Republicans to join them in extending yet another fraud-ridden, COVID-era program—expanded Obamacare subsidies," he said.
Arrington emphasized taxpayer expectations regarding federal safety net programs: "Taxpayers expect the federal government to provide safety net programs that actually help the most vulnerable Americans, not allow their hard-earned money to be needlessly wasted by fraudsters and incompetent politicians."
He concluded his statement with a question: "I’ve got one question: which party do you most trust to steward your tax dollars?"
Arrington also addressed these issues on Newsmax’s National Report, where he discussed the extent of the alleged fraud under Governor Walz’s leadership.
