Republicans in Congress grilled Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison about fraud in Minnesota on Wednesday, accusing the two officials of failed leadership, while Democrats decried the Trump administration’s chaotic and at times violent immigration crackdown in the state.

Walz and Ellison appeared on Capitol Hill for an hours-long hearing in front of the U.S. House Oversight Committee. When Republican members of the panel were asking questions, the hearing became a scathing critique of the Democratic politicians and their role in investigating fraud. The committee’s chair, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., questioned whether the two “should bear some personal responsibility” for the problem.

“The warning signs were obvious,” Comer said, “and state leaders failed to act.”

Democrats on the committee acknowledged the fraud as a problem but questioned their GOP counterparts’ motives for investigating Minnesota and not questioning Trump administration officials over the immigration crackdown. They yielded time to Walz and Ellison to talk about the impacts of the Operation Metro Surge, the immigration crackdown undertaken purportedly to deal with the fraud.

“I care about welfare fraud, and I care about the scumbags who rip off taxpayer money. ... This hearing is not about welfare fraud,” said Rep. Dave Min, D-Calif. “It’s about placating Donald Trump.”

The hearing came as Operation Metro Surge winds down in Minnesota and as the state continues to grapple with fraud in its social services programs. The state has deemed 14 Medicaid services high risk for fraud, shut off payments to hundreds of providers and referred cases to law enforcement. More than a dozen people have been charged so far with defrauding programs meant to help young people with autism and assist elderly and disabled Minnesotans find and maintain stable housing.

Many Congress members’ questions centered not on Medicaid fraud but on the Feeding our Future scandal. That pandemic-era scheme stole hundreds of millions from a federal child nutrition program.

After a conservative website and a YouTube influencer raised concerns about fraud in Minnesota day cares in late 2025, the Trump administration threatened to withhold a range of payments to the state. Last week, it announced it would claw back $260 million in Medicaid funds.

Under what Walz called the “guise of combatting fraud,” the Trump administration dispatched thousands of immigration agents to Minnesota, resulting in sometimes violent confrontations between officers and observers and the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Walz said the “images of this brutal campaign are seared” into Minnesotans’ memories.

“On the streets of Minnesota, federal agents have detained U.S. citizens who have committed no crimes,” Walz said. “They have violated the constitutional rights of our citizens. They have ignored court orders. They have shot first and asked questions later.”

Ellison spoke of the “devastating effects” of the surge.

“Operation Metro Surge did nothing to address fraud in our state,” Ellison said. “It harmed our economy. It scarred our people, and it dealt a devastating blow to fraud enforcement in Minnesota.”

Alongside the two officials, Mariah Tollgaard, pastor of Hamline Church United Methodist in St. Paul, also testified about the impacts of the immigration crackdown. She said members of her church have been afraid to attend services and postponed funerals. Local schools, she said, have drills for what to do if immigration agents arrive.

“That is not security,” she said. “That is a nation failing its children.”

Following opening statements, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, lit into Walz.

“Why didn’t you tell the truth?” Jordan asked, accusing Walz of lying about why the state resumed payments to Feeding Our Future, the leaders of which were later convicted.

“My understanding was the agency believed that the court had required them to make those payments,” Walz replied.

Feeding Our Future sued the state in 2020, saying it wasn’t processing applications to establish meal sites fast enough. The Minnesota Department of Education stopped payments to the nonprofit, but a Ramsey County judge said he saw no authority for the state to do that.

Rep. Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, forcefully questioned when Walz and Ellison knew about fraud in state programs, often talking over the two Democrats.

“Mr. Ellison, my concern is that you actively obstructed this investigation in exchange for campaign donations, a quid pro quo,” Emmer charged. “If these concerns are proven to be true, you should be disbarred and you should go to jail.”

Walz and Ellison repeatedly stressed the work their offices have done to combat fraud and condemned the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown for harming fraud investigations while claiming the operation was intended to do the very opposite.

Nearly half of the lawyers in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota have left since Trump retook office in January 2025, citing concerns about ethics, political pressure and the president’s decision to make immigration a top priority.

Walz pleaded with Comer to ask Trump to enlist more U.S. Attorneys to prosecute fraud in Minnesota.

“If you can do anything chairman, call the president and tell him it’s time to put some U.S. Attorneys over there to prosecute fraud. I’ll sign on with you,” Walz said.

The immigration crackdown caused “generational trauma” to the state’s residents, Walz said.

He noted a Republican member of the committee accused him of being a “tyrant” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Tyrant looks like children being dragged away from parents, old people being dragged out of their house without warrants, two dead on the streets,” Walz said.

Democrats on the committee made motions to subpoena Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Customs and Border Protection Cmdr. Greg Bovino. Both motions failed.

“Under this administration’s direction, masked agents have inflicted trauma that will remain in these communities and neighborhoods,” said Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo.

Walz criticized Noem for refusing to apologize in a committee hearing Tuesday for calling Good and Pretti domestic terrorists, which he said was like “pouring salt in the wounds” of their family members.

After his testimony ended, Ellison said there were some exchanges with Republicans he welcomed, notably with GOP Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, who asked Walz and Ellison where Republicans may have gotten it “wrong” on fraud.

“I think the solution is fundamentally bipartisan,” Ellison said.

--------

—Kelly Smith of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.

©2026 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.