President Trump\u2019s education secretary is turning up the heat on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, blasting his handling of a ballooning fraud scandal and calling on him to resign in a sharply worded letter that also flags alleged abuse inside the state\u2019s college system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou have been Minnesota\u2019s Governor since 2019,\u201d Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote to Walz in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital. \u201cDuring that time, your careless lack of oversight and abuse of the welfare system has attracted fraudsters from around the world, especially from Somalia, to establish a beachhead of criminality in our country. As President Trump put it, you have turned Minnesota into a \u2018fraudulent hub of money laundering activity.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McMahon ended the letter by urging Walz to step aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGiven your dereliction of the office entrusted to you by Minnesotans, I implore you to resign and make way for more capable leadership,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter zeroes in on Minnesota\u2019s sprawling fraud scandal, which has drawn national attention after nonprofits such as Feeding Our Future, largely tied to the state\u2019s Somali community, were accused of stealing at least $1 billion in taxpayer funds during Walz\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McMahon also pointed to what her department says is widespread fraud in Minnesota\u2019s higher education system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, the Department of Education announced it had blocked more than $1 billion in student aid fraud during Donald Trump’s\u00a0 first year back in office, cracking down on suspected bots and so-called \u201cghost students\u201d seeking taxpayer-funded loans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of those schemes allegedly hit Minnesota especially hard. Riverland Community College averaged more than 100 potentially fraudulent applications a year, according to Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McMahon said her department uncovered nearly 2,000 ghost students tied to Minnesota schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe call these fraudsters \u2018ghost students\u2019 because they were not ID-verified and often did not live in the United States, or they simply did not exist,\u201d McMahon wrote. \u201cIn Minnesota, 1,834 ghost students were found to have received $12.5 million in taxpayer-funded grants and loans. They collected checks from the federal government, shared a small portion of the money with the college, and pocketed the rest without attending the college at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She noted the department has since rolled out tougher measures nationwide, including mandatory identity verification for certain first-time applicants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter also took aim at Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar,\u00a0 accusing her of exploiting the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McMahon wrote that Omar borrowed \u201ctens of thousands\u201d in student loans and \u201cnow does not think she should have to repay, despite her generous, taxpayer-funded salary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A conservative watchdog group last month urged House Speaker Mike Johnson\u00a0to garnish Omar\u2019s congressional wages over her student loan debt, citing her $174,000 annual salary, Alpha News reported. McMahon\u2019s letter accused Omar of having \u201ctaken advantage\u201d of federal taxpayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond education, McMahon accused Walz of presiding over what federal officials describe as a \u201cmassive scandal of welfare fraud\u201d that spread across nearly every major assistance program, from housing benefits and food stamps to small-business relief and services for seniors and children with autism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the letter, scammers enriched themselves while the governor \u201cdid absolutely nothing\u201d to stop it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShame on you, Governor Walz, for allowing this to happen and for benefiting from it,\u201d McMahon wrote. \u201cStop defrauding American taxpayers. No politician is above the law, and my department, alongside every other agency under the leadership of President Trump, will continue to ensure that you will not be able to dodge accountability for your actions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fox News Digital reached out to Walz\u2019s office for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tim Walz\u00a0announced last week that he is launching a new statewide fraud-prevention program and hiring a private forensic auditing firm. He said Minnesota\u2019s systems were \u201ctaken advantage of by an organized group of fraudsters and criminals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI take full responsibility for it,\u201d Walz said. \u201cI think, and I will acknowledge certainly to Minnesotans and to the press here, I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve done a good enough job of communicating the hard work that\u2019s being done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That response failed to satisfy critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conservative commentator Dustin Grage said Walz\u2019s words rang hollow without consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe threw out a quote that said, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m gonna take accountability,\u2019 and people will run with that quote,\u201d Grage told Fox News Digital. \u201cBut at the end of the day, not a single bureaucrat in this state in regard to the fraud has been fired. Not a single one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, that ultimately means, at the end of the day, if he\u2019s to blame, the only one at this point who should be held accountable is himself,\u201d Grage added. \u201cHe puts it on himself and nobody has been fired. So, ultimately, at the end of the day, Minnesotans, the voters of this state, are going to have to make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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