[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 7, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S71-S72]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        FRAUD ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I think we are all pleased to be back 
with a new year and hard at work.
  One of the things that has really captured the attention of the 
American people in this new year is the amount of fraud that has been 
uncovered in Minnesota. What we have learned is that now the total has 
climbed to $9 billion--still rising. It is important to note that is 
all stolen taxpayer money. It is so interesting that this big theft was 
uncovered by a young independent journalist who really blew the story 
open when he started visiting childcare centers following a lead, 
visiting these childcare centers in Minneapolis.
  Despite these centers having pulled in tens of millions of taxpayer 
dollars, the childcare centers were actually empty. There were no 
children; there were no cars in the parking lot. Usually--not even any 
staff to come answer the door. These were visits that were made during 
the day when one would assume that children and their caretakers would 
be present in the facility.
  We know and what we are learning is that this childcare fraud scheme 
is just one part of a widespread fraud operation taking place in 
Minnesota. Under State Democrats, billions of taxpayer dollars were 
stolen by front groups that pretended they were providing social 
services. But they padded their pockets. They basically took this money 
from vulnerable individuals--programs that were intended for children, 
for the elderly, for individuals with autism. So basically, they were 
robbing the taxpayer, padding their pockets, pocketing all of this 
money that was intended for vulnerable citizens.
  The Trump administration has targeted this fraud network, and they 
have been working on this for several months. They are bringing dozen 
of criminal indictments, and the list of these alleged crimes is 
staggering. I think the list grows every day, and that is one thing 
that is shocking to people.
  But what you have is tens of millions of dollars that were stolen 
through Minnesota's Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services Program. 
The money was appropriated. The money was sent from the Federal 
Government to the State of Minnesota, and poof, it has gone into 
pockets, not into programs. The Housing Stabilization Services Program 
was meant to help people with disabilities, yet what you had was these 
scammers come in and take most of that money.
  Millions more were stolen through the State's Feeding Our Future 
Program. Here, the fraudsters claimed that they were providing 
thousands of meals every day to needy children. Instead, what we are 
learning is they weren't providing those thousands of meals; they were 
spending your hard-earned tax dollars on luxury vehicles and on pricey 
real estate.
  And yet millions more were stolen by a single woman who paid parents 
to enroll their children in her fraudulent autism therapy program even 
though most of those children had never been diagnosed with autism.
  I know that Tennesseans and, indeed, I am sure, many Americans across 
the country are wondering, How in the world could this possibly happen?
  One of the things I have heard from Tennesseans most on is this fraud 
issue because they can't believe nobody ever noticed. We are talking $9 
billion in fraud--and climbing--in one State. Well, we know the answer 
to this, from what we are learning, is that most of this fraud was 
committed by members of Minnesota's Somali community and that that 
community is closely tied to the State's Democratic machine. It appears 
that there were some Democrats who chose to look the other way, and 
they allowed this to happen. Meanwhile, the Biden administration poured 
gas on the fire by eliminating safeguards that were meant to stop the 
waste, fraud, and abuse of your hard-earned taxpayer dollars.
  In 2024, the Joe Biden administration scrapped a rule that required 
childcare centers to verify that kids actually attended their 
facilities in order to receive Federal funding. Think about this: They 
removed the provision that says you have got to tell us you are 
actually enrolling children in your childcare center. So what does that 
do? That invites fraud. In total, his administration paid out more than 
$19 billion to daycare centers without having any verification that 
that childcare center had children--$19 billion to daycare centers.
  Thankfully, President Trump and his administration are working to 
ensure that these fraudsters face justice and that something like this 
can never happen again.
  Right now, you have Federal authorities on the ground in Minnesota 
who are working to identify and arrest these criminals who have 
defrauded the Federal Government and the U.S. taxpayer. President Trump 
has also frozen more than $10 billion in Federal funding for social 
services programs to Minnesota and to other States--California, 
Colorado, Illinois, and New York--where there are fraud investigations.
  The President's message is quite clear: If these States want to see a 
dime of Federal taxpayer dollars, they must prove that they have put in 
place

[[Page S72]]

some safeguards to prevent fraud. It is common sense. If you are going 
to take this Federal money for your State, for goodness' sake, put some 
safeguards in place so you know whoever is receiving the money is going 
to use the money as intended, that they will meet the deliverable, that 
they will show their outcomes.
  I think it is so interesting in Minnesota, with the spotlight on that 
State, that Governor Tim Walz has announced he is not going to seek 
reelection for that job, that he is dropping out of the race. 
Minnesotans deserve an immediate resignation from him, and we are 
hearing that he will not do that.
  We know that this issue goes far beyond Minnesota. Just last month, 
California's nonpartisan auditor found that eight State agencies have a 
high risk of waste, fraud, and abuse. Yet they have taken 
zero corrective action--no corrective action. Across the board, the 
State is at risk of losing billions to fraud in food assistance, 
unemployment benefits, and in the State's Medicaid Program.

  In New York, Republican lawmakers are calling for an independent 
audit of the State's spending following several fraud scandals. In one 
case, scammers in Brooklyn used two adult daycare facilities to steal--
get this--$68 million in taxpayer money from the State's Medicaid home 
care program. A State comptroller's office also revealed that the State 
provided more than $500 million in Medicaid benefits to out-of-State 
residents.
  If you live in New York and you are getting benefits through the 
Medicaid program and you find out that a half a billion dollars has 
been used to provide benefits for people who are not even residents of 
the State, you ought to be asking questions.
  In Illinois, the State's auditor general found that the government 
paid out more than $5 billion in fraudulent unemployment insurance. 
Well, do you know what? They didn't do a thing about it.
  Last month, the Trump administration indicted two men outside Chicago 
who submitted nearly $300 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and 
Medicaid as well as to private insurers.
  Then, this week, in Mississippi, a trial started for a man who faces 
charges from the Justice Department for allegedly participating in a 
scheme to steal $77 million in Federal aid intended for needy families. 
Instead, the scammers spent the money on luxury vehicles, investments, 
private schools, and more.
  While President Trump works to end this abuse of taxpayer dollars, 
Congress should do everything possible to support his efforts.
  This week, I am introducing the Fraud Accountability Act, which would 
amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to explicitly make clear that 
fraud is a deportable offense. If you come to our country to steal from 
the American people, you ought to be deported; and if you have somehow 
gained American citizenship, you should be stripped of it. Every single 
Member of this Chamber should support this legislation.
  The era of rampant fraud is over. Under President Trump, we are going 
to continue to put the American people first.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.

                          ____________________