Tim Walz let fraudsters steal $250 million from programs meant to feed hungry children.
Keith Ellison sued Trump to make him give the money back.
The judge just told Ellison his own state admitted it has a serious fraud problem.
The Judge Said the Quiet Part Out Loud
Judge Eric Tostrud didn't mince words in his 42-page ruling.
Minnesota, he wrote, has a "serious fraud problem."
That wasn't Trump's characterization. That wasn't JD Vance's characterization. The judge pointed out that Minnesota itself had already acknowledged the fraud crisis – and now the state was demanding hundreds of millions in federal money while still failing to clean it up.
Tostrud ruled against Ellison's bid to restart the frozen $250 million in Medicaid funding, finding the Trump administration was acting on "relatively solid legal footing" in holding the money back until Minnesota got its house in order.
The judge also addressed Ellison's central argument – that the freeze amounted to political punishment. Vance had said publicly the administration needed to "turn the screws" on Minnesota. Tostrud looked at that statement and ruled it didn't prove bad faith.
"It is possible the record may support these concerns in the future," Tostrud wrote. "Today it does not."
The state also argued the size of the freeze – 15 times larger than any deferral Minnesota had previously faced – made it unprecedented and therefore illegal.
Tostrud acknowledged it was unprecedented. He ruled it was still legal. Federal regulations, he found, put no cap on how much money can be deferred at once. When the fraud is unprecedented, the response can be too.
The judge also noted that the state "shares the blame" for any harm to Medicaid recipients – by allowing fraud to run unchecked, Minnesota created the situation it was now asking the court to fix.
What $9 Billion in Theft Actually Looks Like
Here's the scale Ellison wanted the court to ignore.
Federal prosecutors have already charged 92 people and secured 63 convictions tied to Minnesota's Medicaid and social services programs.
The Feeding Our Future case alone – what Merrick Garland called the largest pandemic relief fraud in American history – saw defendants claim $250 million in federal child nutrition reimbursements for millions of meals that were never served.
The money went to luxury cars, real estate, international travel, and overseas accounts.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson held a press conference in December and told the country what he was finding across 14 different high-risk Medicaid programs.
"What we see in Minnesota is not a handful of bad actors committing crimes," Thompson said. "It's a staggering, industrial-scale fraud."
His estimate: half or more of the $18 billion disbursed through those 14 programs since 2018 may have been fraudulent.
That's a potential $9 billion – and Ellison sued to keep the federal money flowing anyway.
This Is Exactly What Trump Promised
Vance and Dr. Mehmet Oz – who runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – stood at a podium in February and announced the freeze.
Their message was simple: Minnesota takes the fraud seriously, Minnesota gets its money back.
Minnesota submitted a corrective action plan. Oz's agency approved it last month. The money isn't flowing yet – and won't until the federal government is satisfied the plan is real, not paper compliance designed to run out the clock.
That is precisely how this is supposed to work.
Walz called the freeze a "ransom note." Ellison called it "political punishment." A federal judge looked at the same facts and concluded the administration was acting for valid reasons.
The Heritage Foundation put the broader picture in context: across 14 state welfare programs, total losses may exceed $9 billion – with federal taxpayers covering roughly 63 cents of every Minnesota Medicaid dollar spent.
This wasn't Minnesota's money being frozen. It was your money – held back until Minnesota proves it can stop handing it to fraudsters.
Keith Ellison sued to make you keep writing the check anyway.
He lost.
Sources:
- Stephen Dinan, "Judge finds Minnesota has fraud problem, refuses to order Trump to restart Medicaid money," Washington Times, April 6, 2026.
- "Judge refuses to block Trump's $243 million Medicaid deferral in Minnesota," Courthouse News Service, April 7, 2026.
- "Somali Welfare Fraud in Minnesota Has Cost American Taxpayers Billions," Heritage Foundation, February 2, 2026.
- "The Policy Lessons from Minnesota's Massive Welfare Fraud," American Enterprise Institute, December 23, 2025.
- "Learning From Minnesota's Somali Fraud Scandal," Imprimis, Hillsdale College, February 11, 2026.
