Several Republican lawmakers in Minnesota issued a statement formally calling on the state’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, to resign over a fraud scandal that escalated during his time in office.
“For years, Minnesotans have watched the fraud crisis get worse. It has gone on long enough,” Minnesota Sens. Bill Lieske and Nathan Wesenberg and state Reps. Marj Fogelman, Drew Roach and Mike Wiener said in a news release Monday.
“This has nothing to do with politics or stunts, and we do not make decisions like this lightly. The governor’s office deserves respect and we did our best to give Governor Walz time to act.”
The group cited Article 8, Section 6 of the Minnesota Constitution as grounds for recalling executive and interior officials, which lists serious misconduct in the performance of official duties, but stopped short of calling for formal recall action.
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Minnesota Republican lawmakers are calling on Gov. Tim Walz to resign over an explosive fraud crisis.
“Leadership means doing the right thing even under difficult circumstances, which is why we are calling on Governor Walz to resign,” the lawmakers explained.
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“We’re talking about billions of dollars in fraud that should have gone to vulnerable Minnesotans. The red flags are everywhere. Yet, year after year, the fraud continues to increase, and year after year, nothing changes.”
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Tim Walz speaks at the 2025 SXSW Conference and Music Festival at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas on March 8, 2025
Earlier this month, federal prosecutors revealed that Minnesota’s fraud scandal, centered on the state’s Somali community, could cost taxpayers up to $9 billion.
Republicans called on Walz to resign on Monday, shortly after journalist Nick Shirley posted a video that has been viewed more than 100 million times on X and highlighted alleged fraudulent day care locations, triggering greater scrutiny of Walz.
Shortly after the video went viral, Walz’s office pushed back against the criticism.
“this The governor has “For years, he has worked to combat fraud and asked the state Legislature for more authority to take aggressive action,” a spokesman for Walz said. “He has increased oversight, including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which has since been closed.”
The spokesperson added that Walz “hired an outside firm to audit payments to high-risk programs, shut down the Housing Stabilization Services program entirely, announced the appointment of a new statewide program integrity director, and supported criminal prosecutions.”
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Calls for Walz to resign have grown in recent weeks, including from Trump Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Fox News Digital first reported earlier this month.
In a statement, lawmakers said the fraud scandal was the “number one” issue they heard from constituents and why no one in power was being held accountable.
“What we are seeing from the governor is what inaction looks like,” the lawmakers wrote. “When the governor doesn’t do what he’s asked to do, when he watches a crisis spiral out of control and does nothing to stop it, that’s inaction. The governor has a responsibility to oversee his administration and protect these programs. He failed. There need to be consequences.”
“For the good of the state, Governor Walz should step down. Minnesota needs accountability, realignment and new leadership to get us back on the right track.”
Original source of the article: Minnesota Republican lawmakers invoke Constitution to call for Walz to resign over fraud crisis
