Minnesota State Senator Blasts Gov. Walz Over $5 Million in Frozen Federal Grants Due to Somali-Linked Fraud Scandal

In a recent interview, Republican Minnesota State Senator Michael Holmstrom Jr. accused Governor Tim Walz and his administration of years of obfuscation and indifference that have allowed massive fraud tied to Somali-run organizations to go unchecked, resulting in legitimate small businesses being forced to bear the financial burden.

Holmstrom stated that the Small Business Administration’s decision to freeze over $5 million in federal grants — funds critical for honest entrepreneurs — is the direct consequence of state officials failing to address the fraud crisis head-on. “The administration doesn’t care. And then these programs keep getting cut,” he said, adding that he hears from local providers and businesses across the state who are increasingly feeling the pain.

The senator criticized Walz’s handling of the scandal, noting the governor spent the weekend posting cat memes while investigations into fraud continued to mount. He also accused Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan of “throwing on a hijab and pretending to be part of the Somali community to try to gather votes for her Senate run,” calling such behavior “despicable.”

Holmstrom revealed that Minnesota’s Department of Human Services had scheduled training sessions for members of the Somali community on how to access state funds — despite ongoing fraud investigations. He cited the Feeding Our Future scandal, which federal prosecutors estimate cost taxpayers billions of dollars. “The actual areas that should be focused on, the state is not interested,” he said. “They’re obfuscating.”

He further criticized Minnesota’s media for ignoring the crisis, pointing to a year-end wrap-up by The Minnesota Star Tribune that failed to mention the fraud scandal at all. “It’s just an apparatchik of the Democratic Party,” he remarked, urging residents to recognize the state’s failure to protect public resources.