Tim Walz let fraudsters steal $9 billion from programs meant to feed children – then spent years punishing the people who tried to stop it.
Congress finally put him under oath.
Michele Tafoya watched every minute and what she said afterward should end his career.
Walz Knew About the Minnesota Fraud in 2019 — Whistleblowers Say He Buried It
"Dodging."
That was Michele Tafoya's word after watching Tim Walz testify before the House Oversight Committee. One word. It landed harder than anything he said in hours of testimony.
Chairman James Comer didn't call Walz in cold. He came armed with a 54-page report, nine transcribed interviews with Minnesota state employees, and testimony from more than 30 whistleblowers – many of them Democrats – who say Walz's own office ignored them, retaliated against them, and surveilled them for raising concerns.
Republicans spent 36 hours and 46 minutes questioning those witnesses.
Democrats spent 3 hours and 14 minutes.
The committee found that Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison knew about credible fraud concerns as early as 2019, had clear legal authority to cut off payments, and kept the checks coming anyway.
"Dodging, giving answers that were incomplete, not having information at his disposal, simply kind of passing the buck," Tafoya told Fox News Digital after the hearing.
She watched Walz take credit for prosecutions he had nothing to do with.
"This is par for the course for Tim Walz," she said. "This is why he is no longer running for governor for a third term."
How Feeding Our Future Stole $250 Million While Walz Looked the Other Way
The Feeding Our Future fraud scandal didn't sneak up on anyone.
Minnesota state auditors flagged the program as "unacceptably vulnerable" as far back as 2009. Officials identified implausible meal counts in 2019. In December 2020, the Minnesota Department of Education labeled Feeding Our Future "severely deficient" – then signed the checks anyway.
One site claimed to serve 6,000 meals per day to children in a town whose entire population – adults included – was smaller than that number.
Federal prosecutors say only about 3% of Feeding Our Future's funding went to actual food. The rest went to luxury cars, overseas real estate, and wire transfers to East Africa.
Why didn't Walz stop it?
His own state auditor documented the answer. Officials cited fears of being perceived as racist. They worried about negative media attention. But they kept funding fraudsters rather than face a lawsuit.
Fraudsters stole billions while whistleblowers got retaliated against. Walz got a vice presidential nomination.
Walz and Ellison testified under oath — and Republicans still want more. The House Oversight Committee is pushing for full depositions, where committee counsel can question them without the cover of a public hearing.
Rep. Clay Higgins banged on the table. Rep. Nancy Mace asked Walz if he was actually the governor of Minnesota after he couldn't answer basic questions about his own state's funding numbers.
Michele Tafoya's Plan for the Minnesota Senate Race — Starting With Deportations
Tafoya didn't come to the hearing just to watch. She came with a plan.
The retired NBC Sports broadcaster – who spent a decade on the Sunday Night Football sideline before trading her headset for a Senate campaign this year – is promising to support the Deporting Fraudsters Act the moment she takes office.
The legislation from Senators Cruz and Lee would deport any noncitizen convicted of defrauding American taxpayers. It has stalled in the Senate. Tafoya wants to revive it.
"If you are an immigrant in this country, you are a guest of this country, and you are convicted of defrauding the American people, you will be deported," she told Fox News Digital.
She is pledging to push mandatory minimum sentences for welfare fraud.
"This is not a second-class crime anymore," Tafoya said. "This deserves the full weight of the law."
She is also backing Trump's decision to withhold $259 million in Medicaid funding from Minnesota until the state implements basic anti-fraud controls. Federal officials have warned that figure could exceed $1 billion if Walz fails to comply.
Walz called that pressure "political retribution."
When Tafoya talks to voters across Minnesota and the word fraud comes up, something specific happens.
"There is an audible sort of hum or roar of disapproval," she told Fox News Digital. "People are sick to their stomach over it."
Minnesota hasn't elected a Republican statewide since 2006. The fraud scandal forced Walz out of the governor's race in January. His lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan – who stood beside him as the fraud scaled into the billions – is now running for Senate against Tafoya.
Walz spent years letting fraudsters prey on Minnesota's generosity. Tafoya spent yesterday watching him answer for it.
Sources:
- Andrew Mark Miller and Adam Pack, "Tafoya rips Walz 'dodging' accountability in hearing, unveils plan to fight fraud," Fox News Digital, March 5, 2026.
- House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Hearing Wrap Up: Minnesota Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison Lied About Knowledge of Fraud and Silenced Whistleblowers," March 4, 2026.
- House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Comer Opens Hearing on Minnesota Fraud with Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison," March 4, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Justice, "78th Defendant Charged in Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme," November 2025.