On Friday evening, Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture, announced that the USDA has suspended all federal financial rewards to Minnesota.
“Enough is enough! The Trump administration has uncovered MASSIVE fraud in Minnesota and Minneapolis—billions siphoned off by fraudsters. And those in charge have ZERO plan to fix it,” Rollins said on X.
“Today, the USDA is SUSPENDING FEDERAL FINANCIAL AWARDS to Minnesota and Minneapolis, effective immediately, until sufficient proof has been provided that the fraud has stopped,” she said.
“No more handouts to thieves! Time to drain the Minnesota swamp and put American taxpayers first,” Rollins said.
“The widespread and systemic fraud associated with federal benefit programs in the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis demonstrate an inability to handle federal resources without additional oversight and accountability measures in place,” Rollins said in a letter to Minnesota Governor Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
Rollins accused the Democrat leaders of refusing to provide basic information or take common sense measures to stop the fraud.
“Therefore, because of your failed leadership and abysmal financial management oversight, I am notifying you that, effective immediately, I am suspending payments on all active awards and any future awards from USDA to the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis, currently totaling over $129.18 million,” Rollins wrote.
She continued, “Within 30 days, you shall provide USDA with payment justifications for all federal dollar expenditures from January 20, 2025 to the present. Going forward, all transactions on awards to the State of Minnesota or the City of Minneapolis will require such payment justification.”
“If those payment justifications are not received, awards will remain suspended,” she said.
Enough is enough! The Trump administration has uncovered MASSIVE fraud in Minnesota and Minneapolis—billions siphoned off by fraudsters. And those in charge have ZERO plan to fix it.
Today, @USDA is SUSPENDING FEDERAL FINANCIAL AWARDS to Minnesota and Minneapolis, effective… pic.twitter.com/xEus3GAcGX
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) January 9, 2026
On Tuesday, President Trump sent letters to California, Colorado, New York, Minnesota and Illinois to inform them of the federal cuts.
Trump made the cuts to the welfare programs due to widespread fraud in the state’s programs.
On Friday a Biden judge blocked President Trump’s $10 billion welfare funding freeze in five blue states, including Minnesota.
