Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth is one of several Republican candidates competing for the party's nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Tim Walz next year. (Glen Stubbe/TNS/ABACA via Reuters Connect)
"There has been that lack of accountability and lack of oversight that's been needed," Demuth said. "The governor has chosen the commissioners, put them into place, and there needed to be an accountability where he or his office were overseeing the work done by the commissioners in every agency."
"That is not what we're finding to the best of my knowledge. Now, if that oversight was going on and this continued under his watch, knowing that it was going on, that's even more concerning," she added.
Federal prosecutors said about $300 million in taxpayer funds that were allocated to feed low-income children through COVID-era nutrition programs was diverted through the Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future. As of late November, at least 78 defendants have been charged in what has widely been considered the largest pandemic relief fraud scheme in the U.S.
While the Feeding Our Future scandal spans through the COVID-19 pandemic, Demuth said she heard concerns about fraud in the childcare assistance program in 2017 and 2018 before she even served in the legislature.
Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., delivered his State of the State address at the state Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP)
"To ignore things or not handle it because you are afraid of how that would be perceived, I think the worst thing is knowing that our tax dollars from the entire state have been wasted and lost in fraud. That is wrong for all Minnesotans," she said.
As Demuth vies for the Republican nomination to challenge Walz for his gubernatorial seat next year, she said her administration would immediately open an investigation, look into every agency, hold those responsible accountable and work to ensure it doesn't happen again.
According to Demuth's campaign website, as governor, she would commit to ending "the culture of fraud and corruption in state government and demand accountability from state workers responsible for managing the state programs that have been abused by fraudsters."
"I will work with the legislature to pass a non-partisan Office of Inspector General who will be empowered to root out fraud in all parts of government, and be a partner for my administration in stopping fraud before it starts instead of waiting until the fraudsters have walked out the door with your money," Demuth said on her website.
Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., sits back in a chair in his office at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Dec. 12, 2024. (Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Walz's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
NBC's Kristen Welker on "Meet the Press" on Sunday asked Walz if he would take "responsibility" for failing to stop fraud in his state.
"Well, certainly I take responsibility for putting people in jail," Walz said. "Governors don’t get to just talk theoretically. We have to solve problems and I will note, it’s not just Somalis. Minnesota is a generous state, Minnesota is a prosperous state, a well-run state, we are AAA bond-rated, but that attracts criminals. Those people are going to jail, and we are doing everything we can, but to demonize an entire community on the actions of a few, it’s lazy."
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Demuth responded to those comments while speaking to Fox News Digital.
"If we are a well-run state and prosperous and doing what we need to, this would be the last place criminals would come and try to do any type of criminal activity," she said.
Fox News Digital's Michael Dorgan and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/walz-bears-full-responsibility-1b-fraud-scandal-gop-challenger-demuth-declares