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Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced in a new interview that a “strike team” is being sent to Minnesota to investigate reports of rampant fraud within several of the state’s benefits programs.
During an appearance on the “Ruthless Podcast” on Tuesday, Chavez-DeRemer told the hosts that the U.S. Department of Labor will be sending “one of our unemployment insurance strike teams” to determine where fraud is occurring within the state.
“Today we have sent a letter to the state to say we will send out one of our unemployment insurance strike teams to determine where else is the fraudulent behavior happening, because the American people don’t deserve this,” she told “Ruthless.” “It’s the American people who believe their dollars are going for one specific reason and that’s to keep that trust fund whole and spend the dollars where they’re needed and not where they’re taken advantage of.”
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The labor secretary asserted that President Donald Trump has made it clear that “fraudulence has no place in any government,” from local governments all the way up to the federal government.
“But at the federal level, organized crime happens, and we have the enforcement capabilities to take care of that, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do,” Chavez-DeRemer added.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that it will be launching a “targeted review” of several of Minnesota’s benefits programs following “recent discoveries of widespread fraud” in the state.
The federal agency sent a letter to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development stating that “concerns of recent reports of fraud, waste and abuse might compromise the integrity” of the state’s unemployment insurance program.
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The letter revealed that the agency’s targeted review will be aimed at “alleged discoveries” found within several of Minnesota’s benefits programs, including Minnesota’s Federal Child Nutrition Program, Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention Autism Program and Housing Stability Services Program.
In a statement accompanying the agency’s announcement, Chavez-DeRemer declared that under her leadership, the Department of Labor will not allow “malicious actors” to compromise the integrity of the state’s benefits programs.
“I am appalled at what we are hearing about potential fraud coming from numerous benefits programs in Minnesota. If there has been any related abuse of our UI systems, it will not be tolerated, and I trust our specialized strike team to get to the bottom of this and report their findings directly to me,” she stated. “Our mission to protect American workers remains unchanged, and I will not allow malicious actors to destroy the integrity of this trusted program.”
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Minnesota has come under heightened scrutiny after Trump labeled Minnesota a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity,” due to several key fraud schemes targeting the state’s Medicaid program, and other federally funded programs that feed children. More than 80 people have faced charges in the state in connection with these schemes.
Included in this series of alleged fraud schemes is one stemming from a new program known as the Housing Stability Services Program, which offered Medicaid coverage for housing stabilization services in an attempt to help those with disabilities, mental illnesses, and substance-use disorders receive housing.
The Justice Department so far has charged less than a dozen people for allegedly defrauding the program that runs through Minnesota’s Medicaid service, but more charges are expected.
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Additionally, the Trump administration and lawmakers have launched probes into Minnesota’s “Feeding Our Future” $250 million fraud scheme that allegedly targeted a children’s nutrition program the Department of Agriculture funded and that Minnesota oversaw during the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 77 people have been charged in that scheme, which took advantage of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to waive certain Federal Child Nutrition Program requirements.
Fox News’ Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
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