Trump Administration Withholds $260 Million In Medicaid Funds for Minnesotans

Vice President JD Vance announced on Wednesday that President Donald Trump will “temporarily halt” over $200 million in Medicare funds for Minnesota to allegedly address fraud in the state.

Vance made his announcement at a news conference held with Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The move came after Trump claimed Vance would lead the “war on fraud” during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

The vice president claimed that the administration was witholding $259.5 million in federal Medicaid funding “in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money.”

“What we’re doing is we’re stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that is being perpetrated against the American taxpayer,” he said.

In addition to withholding the funds, Oz told the press that the administration would begin a nationwide moratorium on Medicare enrollment for medical equipment suppliers.

“We’re announcing a six-month national moratorium blocking all new enrollments for durable medical equipment– prosthesis, orthotics– supplies across the board,” he said, later adding that the move was “going to be effective, and it’s not going to touch the people who need these services.”

Vance underlined that point in response to a reporter’s question, claiming that the withheld funds would help, rather than hurt, the people of Minnesota.

“The fact that we have so normalized this and the fact that I guarantee there are going to be voices in the media, there are going to be voices in the state of Minnesota who say this is hurting children. No, it’s hurting fraudsters,” he said. “The way to protect kids is to go after those fraudsters, which is what we’re doing.”

Possible fraud in Minnesota drew widespread attention last year after YouTuber Nick Shirley’s viral video on daycare centers in the state gained high praise from many in the MAGA movement. President Trump cited allegations of fraud as a key argument for his Operation Metro Surge, the massive immigration enforcement operation that resulted in the killings of two U.S. citizens.

During his speech on Tuesday, Trump claimed the fraud was perpetrated by “Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota,” promising the administration would address the problem with Vance at the helm.

Watch above via C-SPAN.

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