Some Dems signal Walz should testify over fraud scandal, others duck responsibility

Amid the backlash over Minnesota’s widespread Medicaid fraud scandal that occurred under Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, some Democrats are shirking responsibility, but others say Walz should be held accountable.

“I believe that any case of fraud should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent, and therefore the federal government should play an oversight role in federal dollars,” Rep. Johnny Olszewski, D-Md., told Fox News Digital. “States, however, have an obligation to ensure that they administer these programmes. Any case must be investigated. If there is fraud, people must be prosecuted for that fraud.”

When pressed on whether he believed Walz should be forced to testify because he allowed so much money to be lost to fraud under his watch, Olszewski said that “anyone” involved in widespread fraud “should come before congress and tell us what happened.”

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Olszewski wasn’t the only Democrat Fox News Digital heard from who suggested Walz face the music, but others dodged the question and some pointed the finger at President Donald Trump and Republicans.

“It’s not a partisan issue,” said Rep. Becca Balint, D-Va., when asked if anything should be done to prevent such widespread fraud — as we saw in Minnesota — from occurring. “I just wish we could focus on really looking at where the facts take us and that one side isn’t trying to combat waste and fraud and abuse and the other isn’t.”

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“There’s always a fraud problem. That’s why the Department of Justice had a huge civil fraud division that did a lot of great work, and that’s why we have [Inspector Generals] And the like throughout the federal government. “Eliminating those and firing this cadre of people was one of the worst things the Trump administration could do if they were serious about fighting waste, fraud and abuse,” said Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md.

Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Maryland, speaks during a press conference with Free DC and City Council members “to oppose Donald Trump’s increase in illegal federal law enforcement in Washington, D.C.,” outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, September 4, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Oh, I don’t know that you need the governor to do that,” Rep. Don Beyer, D-Virginia, told Fox News Digital about whether Walz should testify. “Certainly someone from Minnesota who has the best insight into what went wrong should have to do that.”

In a news conference Thursday, federal authorities in Minnesota announced new charges in the fraud scandal that has made national headlines and spoke to the scope of the crisis, saying it goes beyond what was previously reported.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is at the center of a widening scandal as federal prosecutors continue to unravel one of the nation’s largest fraud cases of the coronavirus era. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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According to one report, Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota received more than $50,000 in campaign donations from scammers who stole taxpayer money intended to help feed children.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.