Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, issued Wednesday a subpoena to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, now the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. The subpoena seeks documentation relating to a $250 million fraud scheme in Minnesota that exploited a pandemic-era child nutrition program, and while the scheme’s origins date back years, its political relevance has suddenly taken center stage with Walz’s recent elevation to the national ticket alongside Vice President Kamala Harris.
The fraud in question, first brought to light by The New York Times in 2022, involved a nonprofit organization that illicitly diverted funds from a federal program designed to provide meals for children during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most egregious abuses of pandemic relief funds to date, it has led to criminal charges against 70 individuals.
Although Walz himself has not been directly implicated in any wrongdoing, Representative Foxx’s subpoena suggests an effort to tie his administration to the scandal. The timing of this subpoena, issued just weeks after Walz’s nomination, apparently highlights the increasing urgency among Republicans to undermine the new Democratic ticket as election season intensifies.
In her letter accompanying the subpoena, Foxx framed the issue in stark terms, asserting that Governor Walz must provide documents detailing “the extent of [his] responsibilities and actions” in addressing the fraud, which she described as a “massive abuse of taxpayer dollars intended for hungry children.”
A state official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, pointed out that the Minnesota Department of Education, which oversaw the child nutrition program, has already been cooperating with the investigation, providing extensive documentation over the past several months. Moreover, the official noted that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which funded the program, had ignored multiple warnings from Minnesota officials about the potential for fraud during the Trump administration, complicating the Republican narrative.
Walz’s office, for its part, has pushed back against the insinuations, framing the fraud as an appalling but isolated case that the state moved swiftly to address. In a statement, a spokesperson for Walz described the scheme as “an appalling abuse of a federal COVID-era program,” emphasizing that the Minnesota Department of Education had “worked diligently to stop the fraud.” The spokesperson also commended the FBI for its role in apprehending the perpetrators, stressing that state authorities had cooperated fully with federal investigators to bring those responsible to justice.
