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The Trump administration on Tuesday froze all federal child care payments to Minnesota, an extraordinary escalation triggered by a viral right-wing video alleging widespread fraud — and one that state officials and Democrats are denouncing as politically motivated collective punishment.
In a statement and video posted to X, senior officials at the Department of Health and Human Services said they had halted payments to Minnesota under child care programs overseen by the Administration for Children and Families, while also imposing new documentation requirements nationwide.
“We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud,” said Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill in the video, alongside Assistant Secretary Alex Adams.
O’Neill later added that funds would be released “only when states prove they are being spent legitimately,” signaling that payments will now be conditioned on federal approval rather than routine reimbursement — a sharp departure from long-standing practice.
HHS did not specify how much funding to Minnesota was immediately frozen. Adams said the state typically receives about $185 million annually in federal child care support.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accused the administration of exploiting fraud allegations to undermine social programs.
“This is Trump’s long game,” Walz wrote on X. “We’ve spent years cracking down on fraudsters. It’s a serious issue — but this has been his plan all along. He’s politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans.”
The funding freeze follows a surge of attention generated by a video from right-wing influencer Nick Shirley, which claims that multiple Minnesota child care centers were collecting state and federal funds while not operating. The video spread widely over the weekend after being amplified by Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk and conservative media outlets.
FBI Director Kash Patel said Sunday that the bureau had “surged” investigative resources to Minnesota to examine fraud allegations, insisting the move predated the viral video. Still, the timing of HHS’s action has raised concerns among Democrats and advocacy groups that federal enforcement is being driven by political pressure rather than verified findings.
Critics also note that Shirley’s video explicitly targeted Minnesota’s Somali community — a group that has frequently been singled out by Trump and his allies. Shirley cited “the Somali population” in his claims, drawing accusations of racial scapegoating.
Federal prosecutors have pursued fraud cases involving some Minnesota-based organizations for years, including a major child nutrition case first announced in 2022 under the Biden administration. Prosecutors said that scheme involved roughly $250 million and charged 77 people. The alleged ringleader, Aimee Bock — who is white — was convicted by a jury in March.
Minnesota officials say the viral allegations are misleading. The state’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families confirmed this week that one child care center highlighted in Shirley’s video closed in 2022, while others he visited remain licensed and operational.
Despite those clarifications, the administration has pressed forward, tying the Minnesota freeze to broader changes nationwide. HHS said all child care payments going forward will require justification and proof of expenditures, such as receipts or photographic evidence — effectively placing states under heightened federal supervision.
The move is already fueling a broader political fight over whether the administration is using fraud enforcement as leverage to reshape or restrict federal social spending, particularly in Democratic-led states.
