# The Cost of Doing Nothing *A 2026 House Oversight Committee majority staff report on Minnesota social-program fraud.* *The Cost of Doing Nothing: How Tim Walz and Keith Ellison Fueled Minnesota's Fraud Explosion* is a report by the majority staff of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ([[House Oversight]]). The committee posted a 54-page version dated March 4, 2026, on its website.[^1] An expanded 205-page majority staff report under the same title followed on June 8, 2026. The project confirmed that date and title on the PDF's title page.[^2][^3] The report alleges that Governor [[Tim Walz]] and Attorney General [[Keith Ellison]] were aware of fraud by 2019 and failed to act.[^1] The March version puts cumulative Medicaid fraud exposure at $9 billion across fourteen [[Minnesota]] Medicaid programs.[^1] The June report estimates roughly $300 million lost in federal child nutrition funds and "potentially $9 billion in Medicaid-related funds lost or at serious risk."[^2][^3] A congressional staff report is a legislative finding, not a criminal adjudication. It is cited here for the record it compiles, and its allegations are stated as allegations.[^1] The report is separate from the United States' civil action against the State. On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] Office of Public Affairs issued release No. 26-21, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. The release states that Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^4] The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages finds that no other U.S. state has been so described. That is the catalogue's finding, not an independently established fact.[^4] ## Who - The report was issued by the committee's majority staff and names the Governor and the Attorney General in its title as its subjects.[^1][^2] - The committee, under Chairman Comer, held a hearing on Minnesota fraud with Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison.[^5] The project's time table records that Walz and Ellison testified and dates the entry to March 4, 2026, the date of the original release.[^1] ## What - The report's central allegation is that the Governor and the Attorney General knew of fraud by 2019 and did not act on it.[^1] - According to the committee's release on the testimony, the Attorney General produced eleven documents on subpoena.[^6] - A news report states that the committee's report found that the State voluntarily resumed [[Feeding Our Future]] funding. That finding is given here as reported; the passage in the report itself is not quoted in this article.[^7][^1] ## When - March 4, 2026: the committee releases the 54-page version.[^1] - June 8, 2026: the 205-page majority staff report is released.[^2][^3] ## How much - The March version gives $9 billion in cumulative Medicaid exposure across fourteen Minnesota Medicaid programs.[^1] - The June report gives roughly $300 million lost in federal child nutrition funds and potentially $9 billion in Medicaid-related funds lost or at serious risk.[^2] ## How many - The original version runs 54 pages and the June staff report 205 pages, according to page counts the project confirmed with pdfinfo.[^1][^2] The at-issue pair discussed below gives the original version as 53 pages; the validated page count of 54 is used here.[^1] - The March version's Medicaid figure spans fourteen programs.[^1] - The committee's release says the Attorney General produced eleven documents in response to the subpoena.[^6] ## In the at-issue record One project at-issue pair, AI-Sherburne-005, cites this report. The pair states that it searched three documents for "Sherburne": the 205-page June staff report, the original version of *The Cost of Doing Nothing*, and the [[Legislative Auditor's 2024 Feeding Our Future report]]. It found no occurrence in any of them.[^2][^1] The pair flags this as a negative finding at keyword level. The pair sets that absence beside a second figure: that Sherburne County collected roughly $18 million a year "from housing the people who did" contribute to the fraud record.[^12] The pair's anchor is the March 2026 White House presidential action establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.[^12] The $18 million figure is the pair's own. The sources cited in this article do not independently establish it. ## Omissions in official accounts - The June 8, 2026 staff report is framed statewide, against the Governor and the Attorney General.[^2] The project's dossier reports a search of that report that found no reference by name to Hennepin County, to [[Minneapolis]], or to the [[Hennepin County Attorney's Office]].[^2][^3] This is the project's keyword search of the document, not a statement by the committee. - By the same keyword method, the at-issue pair above records no mention of Sherburne County in either version of the report.[^1][^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### What - In May 2026, between the committee's March and June versions, the Minnesota House passed an inspector general bill aimed at combating fraud. The House's Session Daily reported it under the headline *After yearlong push, House passes inspector general bill aimed at combating fraud*.[^8] - The League of Minnesota Cities reported the creation of an [[Office of Inspector General]] in its *Focus on New Laws* series.[^9] - News coverage described the Legislature's inspector general legislation and its anti-fraud plans.[^10][^11] - The record cited here does not show the vote counts or the party alignment on the bill. ### When - May 2026: House passage of the inspector general bill.[^8] - June 8, 2026: the committee releases its expanded staff report, which retains the original title.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, *The Cost of Doing Nothing: How Tim Walz and Keith Ellison Fueled Minnesota's Fraud Explosion* (March 4, 2026) — the 54-page original version; allegation of awareness by 2019; $9 billion across fourteen Medicaid programs. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Cost-of-Doing-Nothing_How-Tim-Walz-and-Keith-Ellison-Fueled-Minnesotas-Fraud-Explosion_3.4.26_FINAL.pdf [^2]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Majority Staff, *The Cost of Doing Nothing: How Tim Walz and Keith Ellison Fueled Minnesota's Fraud Explosion* (June 8, 2026) — 205-page staff report; child-nutrition and Medicaid estimates; statewide framing. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/MN-Fraud-Final-Staff-Report.pdf [^3]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, release announcing the majority staff report on Minnesota social-program fraud (2026) — release of the expanded report. https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-releases-bombshell-report-exposing-rampant-fraud-plaguing-minnesotas-taxpayer-funded-social-programs/ [^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — filing of the lawsuit; Attorney General Bondi's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^5]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, release on Chairman Comer's opening of the hearing on Minnesota fraud with Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison (2026) — the hearing and its witnesses. https://oversight.house.gov/release/comer-opens-hearing-on-minnesota-fraud-with-governor-walz-and-attorney-general-ellison/ [^6]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, release on the testimony of Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison (March 4, 2026) — the Attorney General produced eleven documents on subpoena. https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-releases-explosive-testimony-revealing-minnesota-fraud-cover-up-by-governor-walz-and-attorney-general-ellison/ [^7]: Yahoo News, report on the committee's Minnesota fraud report (2026) — reports the finding that the State voluntarily resumed Feeding Our Future funding. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/minnesota-fraud-report-walz-staffers-224139852.html [^8]: Minnesota House of Representatives, Session Daily, *After yearlong push, House passes inspector general bill aimed at combating fraud* (May 2026) — House passage of the inspector general bill. https://www.house.mn.gov/sessiondaily/Story/19159 [^9]: League of Minnesota Cities, *Focus on New Laws: Office of Inspector General Created* (2026) — creation of the Office of Inspector General. https://www.lmc.org/news-publications/news/all/fonl-office-of-the-inspector-general-created/ [^10]: Sahan Journal, coverage of the Legislature's Office of Inspector General legislation (2026) — the inspector general legislation. https://sahanjournal.com/news/minnesota-legislature-fraud-office-of-inspector-general/ [^11]: Star Tribune, coverage of Minnesota lawmakers' anti-fraud plans (2026) — the Legislature's fraud measures. https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-lawmakers-made-fighting-fraud-a-priority-heres-what-their-plans-will-do/601787016 [^12]: The White House, presidential action *Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud* (March 2026) — the anchor of project at-issue pair AI-Sherburne-005, which carries the Sherburne search and the $18 million figure. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/establishing-the-task-force-to-eliminate-fraud/