Ilhan Omar spent seven years telling Minnesota she was fighting for them.
Republicans just found out what that actually meant when they cracked open a $174 billion spending bill.
And the million dollars Ilhan Omar tried to slip past them was going somewhere that will make your jaw drop.
How a Congressional Earmark Became the Latest Minnesota Fraud
Senator Joni Ernst spotted the entry buried in the package.
It showed $1,031,000 earmarked through the Department of Justice – directed by Ilhan Omar, co-signed by Democrat Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith – for a group called Generation Hope MN.
The paperwork described it as a substance abuse clinic serving the East African community.
Ernst's office pulled the IRS filings.
Three individuals listed as running Generation Hope MN all share the same residential address – a five-bedroom home in Minneapolis.
The clinic's address on Cedar Avenue South pulled up a Somali restaurant on Google Maps.
Yelp reviews going back a decade praised Sagal Restaurant for its authentic Somali meals.
There was no substance abuse clinic at that address.
But there was goat meat.
Ernst said on Fox Business: "Tons of red flags."
One of those red flags had nothing to do with the address.
The brother of one of Generation Hope MN's founders was arrested in 2015 for attempting to travel to Syria to join ISIS.
Ernst raised the issue and Republicans stripped the earmark from the bill.
She told Fox Business it showed exactly "how easy money has been flowing to bad actors in Minnesota."
Sen. Mike Lee and Ernst then sent a formal letter to the Department of Justice asking investigators to examine the organization for fraud.
The Feeding Our Future Fraud Already Proved Minnesota Was Broken
Democrats funneling taxpayer money through fake nonprofits isn't a new story.
Rep. Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania directed earmark money into a nonprofit he controlled, then used it to retire a million-dollar personal loan he had illegally accepted.
He went to prison.
Rep. Duke Cunningham of California accepted $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors in exchange for steering earmarks their way – and kept a record of his pricing on congressional stationery.
He went to prison too.
Heritage Foundation scholars called the earmark system "inherently corrupt" – and that was before Minneapolis became the fraud capital of America.
The Feeding Our Future scheme stole $250 million meant to feed children – the largest pandemic-era fraud case in U.S. history.
More than 90 people have been federally charged.
The vast majority are Somali.
Tim Walz watched it happen for years and did nothing.
And the whole time, his state's most prominent Somali politician was sending earmarks to restaurants with three roommates filing joint IRS paperwork.
Ilhan Omar Entered Congress Broke and Now Has 30 Million Dollars
When Ilhan Omar entered Congress in 2019, her financial disclosure showed a negative net worth.
Student loans, car debt, no assets.
Her 2024 disclosure – filed with the Clerk of the House last May – listed assets valued between $6 million and $30 million.
That's a 3,500% increase.
The official explanation is that her husband's venture capital firm and California winery exploded in value.
Omar told Business Insider earlier this year: "I am not a millionaire."
The House disclosure filed under her own name tells a different story.
Here is what the earmark story and the net worth story have in common.
Money moves toward Omar's community through channels she controls.
In both cases, the paperwork looks legitimate until someone pulls the IRS filings.
The people asking questions get called racists.
James Comer put Omar at the top of his suspect list in January.
The Justice Department is now asking how long this has been happening – and how much more is out there.
The restaurant earmark was stripped.
The questions aren't going anywhere.
Sources:
- Harold Hutchison, "GOP Senator Says Ilhan Omar Tried To Send $1 Million To Somali Restaurant Calling Itself A Rehab Clinic," Daily Caller News Foundation, April 14, 2026.
- Fox News Digital, "Left-Wing Dems Steer $1M to Addiction Group Operating Above Minneapolis Somali Restaurant Amid Fraud Fallout," Fox News, January 7, 2026.
- Elizabeth Economou, "House Axes Omar's $1M Earmark for Restaurant-Based 'Substance Abuse Clinic,'" Legal Insurrection, January 9, 2026.
- Staff, "Earmarks Represent Corruption, Waste, and the Swamp. The Ban on Them Should Stay in Place," Heritage Foundation, March 21, 2021.
- Fox News Digital, "Omar's Net Worth Jumps to As Much as $30M in New Disclosure After Claiming 'I Am Not a Millionaire,'" Fox News, September 2, 2025.