Tim Walz watched $350 million in children's food money vanish into thin air – and blamed the vendors.
Another Democrat just put that same defense on the record – this time under oath before the U.S. Senate.
And John Kennedy had one question that ended the professor's credibility before lunch.
Kennedy Drops the Hammer on the Democrat Witness Denying Medicaid Fraud
Andy Schneider is a Georgetown professor with 50 years of Medicaid experience and e told a Senate hearing room there is no fraud in the program.
Kennedy asked him what to do about states cheating the program by keeping ineligible people enrolled.
Schneider said he didn't believe states were cheating.
"I don't mean to be rude to you, but if you really believe there's no cheating, you need to put down the bong," Kennedy said. "That's one of the most extraordinary statements I've ever heard."
Kennedy followed up with three questions Schneider couldn't answer.
"Do you believe in the tooth fairy, sir? Do you believe in the Easter Bunny? Do you believe that Jimmy Hoffa died of natural causes?"
Schneider had nothing.
One Big Beautiful Bill Exposes the Medicaid Fraud Numbers Democrats Refused to Acknowledge
Brian Blase, president of the free-market Paragon Health Institute, was also at the table – this time as the Republican witness.
"Many states cheat," Blase said. "There are definitely some states that have a massive problem of improper enrollments."
Blase didn't say that from thin air. His institute released a major new study the same day – timed to coincide with his Senate testimony – finding that nearly half of all Medicaid expansion enrollees in 2024 did not meet eligibility requirements.
The number: 9.2 million ineligible enrollees out of 20.2 million total. Federal cost to taxpayers – $32.9 billion in a single year.
Kennedy wrapped his questioning period with a final observation for the Georgetown professor: he was glad there was water on the table, "because your pants are on fire."
One Big Beautiful Bill Medicaid Reforms Already Recovering Hundreds of Millions in Fraud
The Trump administration hasn't been waiting for professors to catch up.
Since the One Big Beautiful Bill passed last year, investigators have uncovered hundreds of millions in program abuse – billing fraud run through hospice providers, autism care centers, and facilities that collected federal dollars without verifying a single service.
In July, the Department of Health and Human Services withheld $1 billion in Medicaid reimbursements from California and Minnesota after both states stonewalled federal investigators asking basic questions about where the money went.
This is what states that "don't cheat" look like when the federal government asks questions: they go silent and wait for the check anyway.
The One Big Beautiful Bill forced structural fixes Democrats spent years blocking – states must now verify eligibility twice a year instead of annually, work requirements apply to able-bodied adults who choose not to work, and payments stop for beneficiaries who have died, are enrolled in multiple states, or simply don't qualify.
The Federalist reported in May that a Louisiana audit found 93 percent of sampled Medicaid enrollees were ineligible and still enrolled – in part because the state let people self-report their income changes.
Minnesota ran the country's largest Medicaid fraud prosecution in its history in 2023 – $11 million in one case – and a professor still told senators there was no problem.
Democrats Sent a Georgetown Professor to Defend $32.9 Billion in Annual Medicaid Fraud
Democrats put a Georgetown professor on the stand to provide cover for a program bleeding tens of billions of dollars to people who were never supposed to receive it.
John Kennedy was the wrong senator to run that play against – he has ended more than a few witnesses who walked in with prepared talking points and left without them.
Blase didn't show up with a theory. He showed up with Census Bureau data matched against state enrollment records – numbers so precise that Schneider's only move was to pretend they didn't exist. Blase sat in Trump's first-term White House tracking this exact racket.
Instead of scrutiny, Democrats got a man who believes in the tooth fairy.
And $32.9 billion in annual fraud is exactly why Kennedy – and the One Big Beautiful Bill – aren't done yet.
Sources:
- Gabrielle M. Etzel, "John Kennedy tells Democratic witness to 'put down the bong' over Medicaid fraud," Washington Examiner, August 4, 2026.
- Liam Sigaud and Brian Blase, "Medicaid Expansion's Growing Improper Enrollment Crisis," Paragon Health Institute, August 4, 2026.
- "The One Big Beautiful Bill Implements Commonsense Medicaid Reforms," U.S. Senate Finance Committee, August 1, 2025.
- "Medicaid Work Requirements Need Real Enforcement," The Federalist, May 26, 2026.