Vice President JD Vance announced on Wednesday that the Trump administration would temporarily halt Medicaid payments to Minnesota in the latest move by the federal government against the blue state.
The announcement came during a press conference with Dr. Mehmet Oz, where the pair revealed that state leaders were learning about the $259 million payment pause in real time.
“We’re announcing today that we have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that is going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money,” Vance declared.
It came one day after President Donald Trump announced that Vance would spearhead the “war on fraud” in his State of the Union address.
The vice president said providers have actually been paid, but the administration will not make federal payments to the state government “until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud.”
Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), looked directly into the camera as he said Democratic Governor Tim Walz had sixty days to respond to their letter and demanded a comprehensive plan to address fraud to have funds released.
Oz indicated it was the first time the government has ever deferred Medicaid funds to a state for the program, which more than 70 million Americans nationwide rely on, including pregnant women, children, and disadvantaged seniors.
“To make it clear, there is a rainy day fund in Minnesota, so we are very confident that people will not be hurt in Minnesota,” Oz said.
It was not immediately clear whether the state could actually tap into any such funds, but Oz insisted any delayed services should be blamed on Walz.
The Daily Beast asked the governor’s office for a response to the announcement, but Walz slammed the move on X.
“This has nothing to do with fraud,” he wrote. “The agents Trump allegedly sent to investigate fraud are shooting protesters and arresting children. His DOJ is gutting the U.S. Attorney’s Office and crippling their ability to prosecute fraud. And every week Trump pardons another fraudster.”
“This is a campaign of retribution. Trump is weaponizing the entirety of the federal government to punish blue states like Minnesota,” Walz continued on X. “These cuts will be devastating for veterans, families with young kids, folks with disabilities, and working people across our state.”
When it comes to actually combating fraud, the governor has already taken a series of steps in recent months to address the issue in the state, which has gained national attention. Some actions have included appointing the state’s first-ever Director of Program Integrity and, in December, announcing a partnership with third-party WayPoint to implement fraud-prevention programs.
“I guarantee there are going to be voices in the media and the state of Minnesota who say, ‘This is hurting children.’ No,” Vance insisted on Wednesday. “It’s hurting fraudsters. The way to protect kids is to go after those fraudsters, which is what we’re doing.”
However, when confronted with how the administration would make sure the fraud crackdown does not impact those on Medicaid, the vice president remained vague and asserted they are going to make sure the efforts go after the fraudsters.
“The problem is not going after the fraud. The problem is the fact these programs are being defrauded to begin with. They will not exist,” Vance claimed.
Pressed on whether the administration had the legal authority to pause Medicaid payments, which is mandatory funding by Congress, Vance insisted they did. He argued Congress appropriates money, but the administration is the one that actually spends it.
“We don’t want to do this. We don’t want to be in a situation where the state of Minnesota is being so careless with federal tax dollars that we have to turn the screws on them a little bit so they take this fraud seriously,” he declared at the press conference.
The administration warned Minnesota was not alone despite being the first to have funding halted.
Vance and Oz also noted that it was part of a broader crackdown on fraud the administration was undertaking, but they notably mentioned only blue states during their press conference, naming California and New York in particular.
