One chart lays bare the sprawling fraud network Minnesota officials missed
What had been a modest stream of taxpayer dollars to Feeding Our Future suddenly became a flood, surging 2,800% in a year, an abrupt spike now at the center of mounting scrutiny and oversight concerns. The explosive growth occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the organization exploited a federally funded children’s nutrition program run by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), siphoning off money intended to feed low-income kids. It now stands as the nation’s largest COVID-19 fraud case. MINNESOTA’S ANTI-FRAUD SPENDING HAS QUIETLY BALLOONED, LEAVING TAXPAYERS TO PAY FOR FAILURE TWICE Data from the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor sheds light on how the scheme went unchecked for so long, finding that the MDE oversight was “inadequate” and that its failures “created opportunities for fraud.” State records chart the rise in payments and reveal how the fraud ballooned in plain sight. According to data from the state audit, payments to Feeding Our Future began in 2019 at $1.4 million. That figure rose to $4.8 million the following year before topping out at $140.3 million in 2021, a staggering 2,818% increase. Even before the pandemic, Feeding Our Future was already an outlier. READ ADDITIONAL FOX NEWS COVERAGE OF THE MINNESOTA FRAUD EXPOSE By the end of 2019, it sponsored more than six times the number of Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) sites as its peers. When federal nutrition dollars surged during COVID-19, that gap only widened. While funding to all meal sponsors increased, Feeding Our Future’s growth far outpaced the rest of the system. According to the legislative auditor, in 2021, nearly four out of every 10 dollars sent to nonprofit meal sponsors in Minnesota flowed to Feeding Our Future alone. Taken together, the numbers show that Feeding Our Future was expanding faster, adding more sites and collecting a vastly larger share of federal meal funds than any comparable organization, long before state regulators intervened. And the oversight failures were just as striking. Flawed applications sailed through, complaints were never investigated, and the nonprofit kept expanding despite repeated red flags. What’s more, in the wake of a years-long $250 million welfare fraud scheme, Minnesota taxpayers will now finance a pricey state-level cleanup effort, effectively paying for the failure twice after state officials missed warnings. Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota has said in the past that he is ultimately accountable for the fraud that took place under his administration.
EPA administrator Lee Zeldin reveals he underwent surgery to remove skin cancer from his face
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin disclosed that he had skin cancer removed from his face, using his personal experience as an opportunity to urge people to wear sunscreen and regularly visit a dermatologist. “PSA: Wear sunscreen and get your skin checked. I’m grateful to the incredible medical team at Walter Reed Medical Center who recently fully removed basal cell carcinoma (BCC) from my face,” he wrote in a post on X. “It started as a small, pearl-colored, dome-shaped lesion on my nose. After a biopsy, it came back positive for BCC.” He noted that he is “relieved to be cancer-free,” and explained that his “dermatologist removed it using Mohs surgery, a precise technique that ensures all cancerous tissue is eliminated.” LEE ZELDIN: TRUMP’S EPA CLEARING THE REGULATORY PATH FOR AMERICA TO DOMINATE THE GLOBAL AI REVOLUTION Zeldin divulged that a plastic surgeon reconstructed a portion of his nose. “Following the surgery, a plastic surgeon reconstructed part of my nose using cartilage from behind my ear and a local skin flap to restore the area,” he explained, including a photo of himself in the post. He recognized the “mistake” he made by spending time out in the sun sans sunscreen. ZELDIN, MCCAIN HAMMER CROCKETT ON EPSTEIN DONATIONS CLAIM “Like many people, there were plenty of moments in my life when I spent time in the sun without sunscreen. That was a mistake. Consistently using SPF 30 or higher and getting regular skin checks can go a long way in preventing this,” he wrote. “Please encourage your friends and family to wear sunscreen and see a dermatologist regularly. Early detection matters,” he asserted. COMMON VITAMIN SHOWN TO SLASH SKIN CANCER RISK IN SOME GROUPS, STUDY SUGGESTS Zeldin lost the 2022 New York gubernatorial race to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. He served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from early 2015 until early 2023.
Democratic heavyweights Harris, Newsom turn heads, fuel 2028 speculation
It appears to be game on in the race for the next Democratic presidential nomination, as two of the party’s most high-profile politicians, who are considered potential top-tier 2028 contenders, stirred more speculation at a major Democratic Party summit. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ 2024 standard-bearer after then-President Joe Biden exited the race, showcased an edgier stump speech as she railed against both major parties and the political status quo in an address at the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) winter meeting this past weekend. And California Gov. Gavin Newsom landed the red carpet treatment, as he mingled with delegates during the opening day of the DNC’s confab, which was held this year in Los Angeles, home turf to both Harris and Newsom. The main focus for the hundreds of committee members and party officials who attended the summit was reviewing the party’s decisive victories in last month’s 2025 elections and better than expected performances in this year’s special elections, and training sessions to prepare for next year’s crucial midterm contests. 21 DEMOCRATS WHO MAY RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028 But with the unofficial start of the next White House race less than a year away, and what’s likely to be a bruising battle among Democrats over the party’s presidential nominating calendar getting underway, 2028 was also in the spotlight. “Obviously, we must focus on the midterms,” Harris said in her Friday speech. “But Democrats, we must also have a clear vision for what comes after the midterms. And then after Trump. We need to answer the question. We need to answer the question: what comes next for our party and our democracy?” Harris argued that “both parties have failed to hold the public’s trust” and that “people are done with the status quo, and they’re ready to break things to force change.” 2028 LOOMS LARGE: HARRIS, NEWSOM, PRITZKER CONVERGE AT MAJOR DNC MEETING And Harris, who was swept by President Donald Trump in all key battleground states in the 2024 election, said that Trump is representative of a bigger problem plaguing the nation’s politics. “He and the rise of the MAGA movement, I believe, are a symptom of a failed system that is the result of years of outsourcing and offshoring, financial deregulation, growing income inequality, a broken campaign finance system and endless partisan gridlock all contributing to how we got here today,” she emphasized. “The vice president received a very warm and enthusiastic reception,” a committee member told Fox News Digital. And when she alluded to who would be in contention for the 2028 nomination, some in the room shouted, “You.” According to those in the room, Harris also landed a warm welcome less than 24 hours earlier as she spoke at the United Farm Workers annual gala. Expect to see more of Harris in the new year, helping Democrats from coast to coast as the party works to win back congressional majorities in the midterms. And Harris has added more 2026 stops to her book tour promoting “107 Days,” her reflections on her abbreviated 2024 presidential campaign. Among the stops is one in South Carolina, a crucial early-voting primary state in the Democratic Party’s presidential nominating calendar. SUCCEEDING TRUMP IN 2028: SIX REPUBLICANS TO KEEP YOUR EYES ON While Newsom didn’t address the delegates at Friday’s general session, he was treated like a VIP on Thursday as he held meetings and mingled with delegates during the opening day of the winter meeting. A DNC committee member who witnessed the commotion told Fox News Digital, “Newsom received a rock star reception as he was mobbed by party leaders and activists alike while he attempted to walk from meeting to meeting.” Newsom on Thursday met with the Democratic Party chairs from New Hampshire, the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state, and Nevada, another crucial early voting state. “We had a great discussion on a wide range of issues,” longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley told Fox News Digital. Newsom’s stature in his own party has soared this year, thanks to his very vocal and visual pushback against the president, including his viral social media trolling of Trump and his successful California push to counter the Republican congressional redistricting effort. “Newsom has shown an ability to stand up to Trump in a bold and highly effective manner without shying away from core democratic values,” veteran Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo told Fox News Digital. While both Newsom and Harris made a splash at the DNC winter meeting, they both have plenty of detractors who worry that neither would be electable in 2028 when the Democrats try to win back the White House. And if one or both of them launch presidential campaigns, they’ll likely be joined by a large crowd of other contenders. One of those possible White House hopefuls is Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who was also making the rounds during the opening day of the DNC meeting. Fox News Digital confirmed that the billionaire governor helped raise over $1 million for the DNC at a fundraiser Thursday night. A DNC insider said the appearances by Harris, Newsom and Pritzker gave “them an opportunity to start honing in on a winning message for Democrats in 2028.” There are more than a dozen other Democrats thought to be potential 2028 White House contenders. And most of them have also been paying visits to the early voting states, as well as parachuting onto the 2025 campaign trail. Among them are Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Wes Moore of Maryland and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan; Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona, and Chris Murphy of Connecticut; progressive superstar Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, another leading progressive; and two moderate Democrats, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and former Chicago mayor and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
House Republicans allege DC police downgraded crime classifications to manipulate statistics
The top police official in Washington, D.C., pressured commanders to lower classifications of crime and retaliated against those who reported spikes, creating a widespread culture of fear and distorted public data, according to a new congressional report. An interim report from the House Oversight Committee released on Sunday claims that outgoing Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Pamela Smith, who announced her resignation on Dec. 8, oversaw an unprecedented system of intervention in crime reporting. The Republican-led committee alleges that Smith, who is expected to remain in the position through the end of the year, pressured commanders on numerous occasions, and at times instructed them to downgrade offenses and avoid classifications that would appear on the city’s Daily Crime Report. “By pressuring her command staff to alter classifications for the sole purpose of artificially reducing crime numbers reported out to the public, Chief Smith incentivized the manipulation of crime numbers, which do not adequately account for the crime taking place in D.C.,” the report reads in part. TRUMP PRAISES DEMOCRATIC DC MAYOR FOR WORKING WITH HIS ADMINISTRATION ON CRIME CRACKDOWN The findings, based on eight transcribed interviews with MPD district commanders, describe a toxic management environment in which accuracy was sacrificed for optics, and career officials faced public humiliation or demotion for presenting Smith with unfavorable crime statistics. MPD did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment about the report. “Briefings with Chief Smith involved public chastisement to the point commanders expressed feeling like they were being treated as if they had committed the crimes themselves,” the report stated. THREE DC HOMICIDES IN SIX HOURS TEST TRUMP’S CLAIM OF SAFER WASHINGTON “On two occasions I had… robbery sprees, and I think I had, like, 13 robberies in over a night period, a day period,” said one MPD commander who is identified only as “Commander E” in the report. “And, yeah, I was – usually you have, there’s – an order of how you brief out, but at the very beginning of the crime briefing, the chief said, ‘I need to see [Commander E] up front to brief first.’ So I got up there and I was basically admonished. I was like, ‘How could I let these robberies happen?’ It was embarrassing, but it happened. And then it stemmed other meetings after that to sit down and kind of drill down to what’s happening. I did feel like I did the robberies after I left. I literally was, like, I swear I did not commit them.” The committee’s investigation unfolded against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s federal crime crackdown in the nation’s capital. In August, Trump issued an executive order to address the “epidemic of crime” in the district and deployed federal law enforcement personnel, including the National Guard. DC ARRESTS SURPASS 1,000 AS TRUMP-BACKED CRACKDOWN ENTERS 12TH HOMICIDE-FREE DAY Several commanders told the committee the surge had been helpful in supplementing the department’s resources. Mayor Muriel Bowser noted last week that D.C. homicides are down 30% this year. Bowser told Fox News Digital in a statement: “The men and women of the Metropolitan Police Department run towards danger every day to reduce homicides, carjackings, armed robberies, sexual assaults, and more. The precipitous decline in crime in our city is attributable to their hard work and dedication and Chief Smith’s leadership.” “I thank Chief Smith for her commitment to the safety of DC residents and for holding the Metropolitan Police Department to an exacting standard, and I expect no less from our next Chief of Police,” she added.
Democrats press hard on Epstein files after years of sporadic interest under Biden
With less than a week before the Department of Justice must release a tranche of case files related to Jeffrey Epstein, Democrats have continued to seize on the politically expedient topic, which has roiled the Trump administration and caused fractures in the Republican Party. On Friday, House Democrats released 19 photos from Epstein’s estate that included several images featuring President Donald Trump and other public figures. The White House blasted the move and reiterated its position that the Epstein matter is a “Democrat hoax.” Friday’s disclosure came as Democrats have claimed all year that Epstein’s case has newfound salience because Trump, once among Epstein’s many wealthy friends before Epstein was accused of trafficking underage girls, tried to suppress the files when he took office. Republicans counter that Democrats had full access to the documents for four years under the Biden administration and neither released them nor uncovered information damaging to Trump. FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS UNSEALING OF EPSTEIN CASE GRAND JURY RECORDS Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News Digital claims of Democratic inconsistency “are seriously detached from reality” and pointed to his own investigations dating back to 2019 into former Trump Labor Secretary Alex Acosta’s handling of a 2008 plea deal with Epstein. Raskin argued the Democratic Party has not shifted, but rather that the Trump administration has. “Trump abruptly killed the ongoing federal investigation into Epstein’s co-conspirators when he took office,” Raskin said, alleging the administration undertook a “massive redaction project” to hide evidence of Trump’s ties to Epstein. The forthcoming file release is expected to contain significant redactions and include reasons for each one. “Democrats have always fought to support an investigation of Epstein’s co-conspirators,” Raskin said. “We have always been on the side of full transparency and justice for the victims.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., repeated that point Friday after the photos were published, saying, “All we want is full transparency, so that the American people can get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” COMER ACCUSES OVERSIGHT DEMS OF ‘CHERRY-PICKING’ EPSTEIN ISLAND FILES: ‘CHASING HEADLINES’ The heightened Democratic push for transparency comes after years during which the party showed more intermittent interest in Epstein’s case, which some Democrats have attributed to the sensitivity of seeking information while Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking case was pending and while some of Epstein’s victims were pursuing litigation. But the Democrats’ new, unified fixation on Epstein this year came as Republicans struggled to manage the issue. The files became a political thorn for the administration after Attorney General Pam Bondi‘s chaotic rollout in February of already-public files by the DOJ, which enraged a faction of Trump’s base who had been expecting new information. The DOJ said at the time that it would not disclose further files because of court orders and victim privacy and said the department found no information that would warrant bringing charges against anyone else. In a turnabout, however, Bondi ordered a review, at Trump’s direction, of Epstein’s alleged connections to Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton. The president, who was closely associated with Epstein but was never accused of any crimes related to him, also relented to monthslong pressure to sign a transparency bill last month that ordered the DOJ to release all of its hundreds of thousands of Epstein-related records within 30 days. Among the most vocal supporters of the bill was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., which resulted in her highly public falling out with the president, whom she once fervently supported. The Epstein saga has also plagued the administration because some of Trump’s allies, now in top roles in the DOJ, once promoted the existence of incriminating, nonpublic Epstein files, including a supposed list of sexual predators who were his clients. FBI Director Kash Patel, for instance, said in 2023 the government was hiding “Epstein’s list” of “pedophiles.” But the DOJ leaders failed to deliver on those claims upon taking office. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., meanwhile, faced accusations from Democrats that he kept the House in recess for about two months to avoid votes on Epstein transparency legislation. Johnson shot back that Democrats had, in his view, been lax on the Epstein case until this year. “We’re not going to allow the Democrats to use this for political cover. They had four years,” Johnson told reporters at the time. “Remember, the Biden administration held the Epstein files for four years and not a single one of these Democrats, or anyone in Congress, made any thought about that at all.” The House Oversight Committee has also spurred infighting over how Epstein material has been handled, as it has been actively engaged in subpoenaing, reviewing, and releasing large batches of Epstein-related records from both the DOJ and Epstein’s estate, including Friday’s photos. In response to the photos, which were released by committee Democrats, committee Republicans said the Democrats “cherry-picked” them and that they “keep trying to create a fake hoax by being dishonest, deceptive, and shamelessly deranged.”
CAIR’s tax-exempt status targeted as Cornyn moves to strip group after terror designations
FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican wants to nix the tax-exempt status of a national Muslim advocacy group that both Texas and Florida have designated as a terrorist organization. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, intends to introduce legislation that would remove the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) tax-exempt status. Currently, an organization’s tax-exempt status is suspended if it is designated by the State Department as a terrorist organization. Cornyn’s bill would lump CAIR in with designated federal terrorist organizations, like Hamas, Hezbollah and al Qaeda, by extending that prohibition to include groups that provide material support or resources, such as finances, services or training to a terrorist organization. TEXAS GOV ABBOTT DECLARES CAIR, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AS TERRORIST GROUPS, PREVENTING LAND PURCHASES The Texas Republican said in a statement to Fox News Digital he was moving ahead with the legislation, “because no organization who bankrolls terrorists should get a tax break, period.” “CAIR is a radical group of terrorist sympathizers with a long history of undermining American values and trying to unconstitutionally impose Sharia law on Texas, which is why I stand behind Gov. Abbott’s decision to designate it as a foreign terrorist organization,” he said. “I also call on President Trump to do so at the federal level to ensure this breeding ground for anti-American hate is starved of funding and forced to close its doors once and for all.” Cornyn’s bid to revoke the organization’s tax-exempt status comes after both the governors of Texas and Florida designated CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations earlier this year. CAIR has long argued that it is not connected to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is affiliated with offshoot federally designated terrorist organizations, like Hamas. COTTON CALLS ON IRS TO PULL MUSLIM ADVOCACY GROUP’S NONPROFIT STATUS Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took executive action last month to prevent the organizations from “acquiring any real property interest in Texas.” His proclamation charged that “CAIR and its members have repeatedly employed, affiliated with, and supported individuals promoting terrorism-related activities,” and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) considered the organization a “front group” for Hamas. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis similarly ordered that all Florida agencies “undertake all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities by these organizations, including denying privileges or resources to anyone providing material support.” MUSLIM GROUPS, OTHER LEADERS DEMAND ABBOTT RESCIND CAIR’S ‘TERRORIST’ DESIGNATION: ‘DEFAMATORY’ Neither CAIR nor the Muslim Brotherhood have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) at the federal level by the State Department. However, President Donald Trump, in an executive order late last month, ordered that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent determine which chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood, specifically in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, be designated as FTOs and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Fox News Digital did not immediately hear back from CAIR for comment on Cornyn’s legislation.
Biden officials go silent when asked about Afghan refugee program after guardsmen shooting
Former top Biden administration decision makers were silent on whether they stand by the vetting procedures deployed for “Operation Allies Welcome,” the Afghan resettlement program that was utilized by the alleged National Guard attacker to get to the U.S. The heinous incident that claimed the life of one West Virginia National Guard member and gravely wounded another on Thanksgiving Eve sprung back to the forefront last week when House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., infuriated Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem when he referred to it as an “unfortunate accident.” The attack renewed questions over whether Democrats still stand by the vetting processes put in place by the previous administration — and whether officials involved in the Afghanistan withdrawal and refugee resettlement would revise those decisions today. Fox News Digital has reached out to several members of the Biden administration with roles directly or tangentially related to the Afghanistan withdrawal and the resettlement of Afghan refugees. SENATOR RENEWS PUSH TO MANDATE VETTING FOR AFGHAN EVACUEES AFTER NATIONAL GUARD SHOOTING Inquiries to former President Joe Biden’s office, former Vice President Kamala Harris and a second request to an individual listed as Harris’ literary agent were not returned within a week. Messages sent to former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley [Ret.], as well as via an official at the Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs – where he is listed as a visiting professor – also went unanswered. Milley, though a general, was not in a command position – as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is an advisory role. In that regard, he did not make any operational decisions, but instead was in the president’s ear when it came to military advice. Milley later told senators on Capitol Hill that he recommended maintaining a small, 2,500-troop force in Afghanistan. Fox News Digital also reached out to former Central Command (CENTCOM) commander, Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie via his new role at the University of South Florida, for comment – which was not returned. AFGHAN EVACUEE ARRESTED BEFORE DC SHOOTING FEDERALLY CHARGED WITH THREATENING TERROR ATTACK CENTCOM covers the Middle East and was tasked with overseeing security and evacuation operations out of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Messages sent to addresses listed for National Security Adviser Jacob Sullivan and Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer were not returned. Finer is now a visiting fellow at Columbia University’s School of Public and International Affairs, and Sullivan’s wife – Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., is in her first term in Congress. Sullivan was a key adviser to Biden during the withdrawal and was later pressed by CNN whether he feels “personally responsible for the failures” therein. He replied that the “strategic call President Biden made, looking back three years, history has judged well and will continue to judge well. From the point of view that, if we were still in Afghanistan today, Americans would be fighting and dying; Russia would have more leverage over us; we would be less able to respond to the major strategic challenges we face.” A woman who answered a line listed for former Secretary of State Antony Blinken redirected Fox News Digital to a press liaison. That request was not returned. Blinken, as leader of the State Department, was the point person for the diplomatic aspect of the withdrawal. He advised Biden on what to do about the Taliban’s “Doha Agreement” that was forged by the previous Trump administration, while the department coordinated overflight rights, temporary housing and other issues regarding the refugee outflow from Kabul. SENATE REPUBLICANS LAUNCH INVESTIGATION INTO BIDEN IMMIGRATION PROGRAMS AFTER DC NATIONAL GUARD SHOOTING A woman who answered an extension listed for former Pentagon chief Gen. Lloyd Austin III [Ret.] said she would take a message and that Austin would return the call if he wished. As Pentagon chief, Austin was the top bureaucrat in the U.S. military structure at the time of the withdrawal. After the Thanksgiving Eve attack, U.S. Citizenship for Immigration Services administrator Joe Edlow announced a review of the green card system, citing suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s situation. His predecessor, Biden-appointed Ur Jaddou, did not respond to a request for comment. AFGHAN EVACUEES WITH CHILD-FONDLING, TERROR ARRESTS SWEPT UP IN DHS CRACKDOWN AFTER BOTCHED VETTING EXPOSED Fox News Digital also reached out to alleged addresses linked to former Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall, but did not receive responses. Fox News Digital also reached out to the Belfer Center at Harvard, which recently cited that Sherwood-Randall would be rejoining their ranks to lead their “Initiative on Bioconvergence, Biosecurity, and Bioresilience.” Fox News Digital also attempted to reach Harris’ national security adviser, Phil Gordon, via his new role at a global advisory firm, but did not receive a response. Efforts to reach Biden confidants Ronald Klain and Jeffrey Zients were unsuccessful. FBI PROBES POSSIBLE TIES OF NATIONAL GUARD SHOOTER TO TABLIGHI JAMAAT, A ‘CATALYST’ FOR JIHAD Tracey Jacobson, now the chargé d’affaires for the U.S. in Dhaka, Bangladesh, led the administration’s Afghanistan coordination task force charged with processing and relocating Afghan allies. She did not respond to an inquiry. During the Afghan withdrawal, Jacobson was named by the Biden administration to lead an Afghanistan coordination task force as part of its “whole-of-government effort to process, transport and relocate Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants and other Afghan allies,” according to Biden. 2021 AFGHAN REMARKS HAUNT GOP LAWMAKER’S SENATE BID AFTER DC GUARD SHOOTING Former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus was asked by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign in 2022 or risk being the first Biden administration official fired, according to The New York Times. DHS officials ultimately cut his access to the agency’s social media accounts, according to the paper, and a report from Heritage Foundation fellow Simon Hankinson cited that he ultimately left the job soon after. His role would have also placed him in the midst of the orchestration of Operation Allies Welcome and Operation Allies Refuge. He was also unable
Massive Medicaid fraud scheme puts Minnesota’s federal funding at risk — and fallout could widen
Minnesota is facing threats that the federal government may pull its funding for Minnesota’s Medicaid program until it cleans up its act amid investigations into multiple alleged fraud schemes plaguing the state’s social services system. Minnesota is coming under heightened scrutiny as President Donald Trump has labeled Minnesota a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity,” due to several key fraud schemes targeting the state’s Medicaid program, and other federally funded programs that feed children. More than 80 people have faced charges in the state in connection with these schemes. Chris Edwards, the Kilts Family Chair in Fiscal Studies at the libertarian think-tank the Cato Institute, said that federal-state funding programs are ripe grounds for fraudulent activity. “Federal aid-to-state programs are especially vulnerable to fraud and scams because the Feds mainly pay for them,” Edwards said in a Tuesday email to Fox News Digital. “The states administer and they care little about waste because the Feds are paying. The states would have more incentive to run efficient programs if they were funded by state taxes. The states must balance their budgets every year, so politicians must make tradeoffs and focus on efficiency.” “By contrast, the federal government runs massive deficits, so the politicians don’t care much about waste,” Edwards said. “There’s a double-problem with aid-to-state programs: the states don’t care about waste because it’s federal money, and the Feds don’t care either because they run massive deficits.” MINNESOTA FRAUD SCHEME UNEARTHS MILLIONS IN LUXURY PROPERTY, CARS: DOJ Included in this series of alleged fraud schemes is one stemming from a new program known as the Housing Stability Services Program, which offered Medicaid coverage for housing stabilization services in an attempt to help those with disabilities, mental illnesses, and substance-use disorders receive housing. The Justice Department so far has charged less than a dozen people for allegedly defrauding the program that runs through Minnesota’s Medicaid service, but more charges are expected. Additionally, the Trump administration and lawmakers have launched probes into Minnesota’s “Feeding Our Future” $250 million fraud scheme that allegedly targeted a children’s nutrition program the Department of Agriculture funded and that Minnesota oversaw during the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 77 people have been charged in that scheme, which took advantage of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to waive certain Federal Child Nutrition Program requirements. Some fraud cases in Minnesota have collapsed though, and Hennepin Country judge overturned a guilty verdict for Abdifatah Yusuf in a Medicaid fraud case in November. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced in August that Yusuf was found guilty of six counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle, and claimed that Yusuf used his agency Promise Health Services, LLC to fraudulently obtain Medicaid funds for services that were not provided or were billed based on inaccurate documentation. Minnesota is dependent on the federal government for a significant portion of its funding. In 2023, federal funding toward Minnesota’s Medicaid program totaled $11 billion — amounting to roughly 58% of all federal funding Minnesota receives, according to the House’s Energy and Commerce Committee. Ultimately, the federal government covers approximately 51% of Minnesota’s Medicaid costs. In every state, the federal government splits Medicaid costs using the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage formula, which is calculated by comparing the state’s per capita income to U.S. per capita income. Percentages determining how much the federal government covers vary by state, with the federal government absorbing between 50% of Medicaid costs in states like California and Colorado, and up to nearly 77% in Mississippi, according to the Congressional Research Service. MINNESOTA TAXPAYER DOLLARS FUNNELED TO AL-SHABAAB TERROR GROUP, REPORT ALLEGES It’s unclear exactly how many federal dollars went toward fraudulent providers in Minnesota. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid told Fox News Digital Tuesday that an audit will further examine how federal funds were used. “CMS is using all our resources to investigate and address this egregious fraud scheme in Minnesota…As part of a comprehensive audit, CMS will isolate how much of these funds were misused,” CMS spokeswoman Catherine Howden said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Given the complexity of this situation, along with Minnesota’s lack of transparency, this review will be complex and time intensive.” Minnesota’s Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital by deadline. Edwards said that it is easier than ever for criminal gangs to partake in these fraudulent schemes, due to the fact that benefits and subsidies are now paid automatically by federal computers, rather than through paper forms. “The only solution is to devolve these federal-funded programs to the states and let them fund,” Edwards said. “There is no magic money tree in Washington. Welfare programs should be funded and administered at the state level.” TIM WALZ CALLED OUT BY WASHINGTON POST FOR REFUSING TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL In September, the Justice Department announced that it had charged eight defendants with wire fraud for their roles in the Housing Stability Services Program Medicaid fraud scheme. Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said in a statement that the charges marked the “first wave” expected in connection with the case. “I want to be clear on the scope of the crisis,” Thompson said in a statement in September. “What we see are schemes stacked upon schemes, draining resources meant for those in need. It feels never ending. I have spent my career as a fraud prosecutor and the depth of the fraud in Minnesota takes my breath away.” In July 2022, Minnesota stood up its Housing Stability Services Program, which offers Medicaid coverage for housing stabilization services. But instead, those charged in September obtained and “misappropriated millions of dollars in program funds that were intended as reimbursements for services provided to those people,” according to the Justice Department. MINNESOTA’S $70 MILLION FRAUD EXPOSES HOW DEMOCRATS BUILT A SYSTEM DESIGNED TO BE ROBBED Although the Housing Stability Services Program was expected to cost $2.6 million annually, the program paid out $42
Small Business Administration unveils new initiative to roll back federal regulations
FIRST ON FOX: Seeking to tackle persistent cost pressures on American families and small firms, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is unveiling a new initiative that will review and roll back federal rules the administration says have driven up prices in sectors ranging from housing to food production. The Deregulation Strike Force, led by the SBA’s Office of Advocacy, will coordinate a government-wide review aimed at identifying regulations that hinder economic growth. FROM MORTGAGES TO CAR LOANS: AFFORDABILITY RISES AND FALLS WITH THE FED Trump administration officials say the effort is intended to eliminate what they describe as excessive Biden-era regulations that have imposed an estimated $6 trillion in cumulative compliance costs on American families and small businesses. “Bidenomics brought historic new highs in inflation that crushed working families and small businesses, driven in part by the massive bureaucracy that heaped trillions in new federal regulations onto the backs of hardworking Americans,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler wrote in a statement. TRUMP INSISTS PRICES ARE ‘COMING DOWN,’ BLAMES BIDEN — BUT VOTERS SAY THEY’RE STILL GETTING SQUEEZED “Through our Deregulation Strike Force, SBA is leveraging its unique authority to deregulate across the federal government and cut senseless red tape that drove up costs for small businesses and consumers, especially in industries hit hardest by Bidenflation,” Loeffler said, adding that the initiative will build on President Trump’s push to reduce costs across the country. Citing what it describes as four years of excessive regulatory overreach, the SBA said its strike force will target cuts across key small-business sectors, including housing and construction, healthcare, agriculture and food production, energy and utilities, transportation and other goods and services across the supply chain. They also argue the latest deregulation campaign reinforces President Donald Trump’s economic message heading into the new year, positioning regulatory relief as a central tool for tackling high prices. The SBA said it has already played a key role in eliminating an estimated $98.9 billion in federal regulations since Trump’s return to office. Some of these actions include changes to reporting rules, energy-efficiency standards and diesel exhaust fluid requirements, which the agency says have contributed to nearly $200 billion in total regulatory savings.
China’s missile surge puts every US base in the Pacific at risk — and the window to respond is closing
China has spent decades building a land-based missile force designed to keep the United States out of a fight over Taiwan — and U.S. officials say it now threatens every major airfield, port and military installation across the Western Pacific. As Washington races to build its own long-range fires, analysts warn that the land domain has become the most overlooked — and potentially decisive — part of the U.S.–China matchup. Interviews with military experts show a contest defined not by tanks or troop movements, but by missile ranges, base access and whether U.S. forces can survive the opening salvos of a war that may begin long before any aircraft take off. “The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force … has built an increasing number of short-, medium-, and long-range missiles,” Seth Jones of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told Fox News Digital. “They have the capability to shoot those across the first and increasingly the second island chains.” For years, Chinese officials assumed they could not match the United States in air superiority. The Rocket Force became the workaround: massed, land-based firepower meant to shut down U.S. bases and keep American aircraft and ships outside the fight. HIGH STAKES ON THE HIGH SEAS AS US, CHINA TEST LIMITS OF MILITARY POWER “They didn’t think that they could gain air superiority in a straight-up air-to-air fight,” said Eric Heginbotham, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “So you need another way to get missiles out — and that another way is by building a lot of ground launchers.” The result is the world’s largest inventory of theater-range missiles, backed by hardened underground facilities, mobile launchers and rapid shoot-and-scoot tactics designed to overwhelm U.S. defenses. Despite China’s numerical edge, American forces still hold advantages Beijing has not yet matched — particularly in targeting and survivability. U.S. missiles, from Tomahawks to SM-6s to future hypersonic weapons, are tied into a global surveillance network the People’s Liberation Army cannot yet replicate. American targeting relies on satellites, undersea sensors, stealth drones and joint command tools matured over decades of combat experience. “The Chinese have not fought a war since the 1970s,” Jones said. “We see lots of challenges with their ability to conduct joint operations across different services.” The U.S., by contrast, has built multi-domain task forces in the Pacific to integrate cyber, space, electronic warfare and precision fires — a level of coordination analysts say China has yet to demonstrate. Jones said China’s defense industry also faces major hurdles. “Most of (China’s defense firms) are state-owned enterprises,” he said. “We see massive inefficiency, the quality of the systems … we see a lot of maintenance challenges.” Still, the United States faces a near-term problem of its own: missile stockpiles. “We still right now … would run out (of long-range munitions) after roughly a week or so of conflict over, say, Taiwan,” Jones said. SKIES AT STAKE: INSIDE THE US-CHINA RACE FOR AIR DOMINANCE Washington is trying to close that gap by rapidly expanding production of ground-launched weapons. New Army systems — Typhon launchers, high mobility artillery rocket system, batteries, precision strike missiles and long-range hypersonic weapons with a range exceeding 2,500 kilometers — are designed to hold Chinese forces at risk from much farther away. Heginbotham said the shift is finally happening at scale. “We’re buying anti-ship missiles like there’s no tomorrow,” he said. If current plans hold, U.S. forces will field roughly 15,000 long-range anti-ship missiles by 2035, up from about 2,500 today. China’s missile-heavy strategy is built to overwhelm U.S. bases early in a conflict. The United States, meanwhile, relies on layered air defenses: Patriot batteries to protect airfields and logistics hubs, terminal high altitude area defense (THAAD) interceptors to engage ballistic missiles at high altitude, and Aegis-equipped destroyers that can intercept missiles far from shore. Heginbotham warned the U.S. will need to widen that defensive mix. “We really need a lot more and greater variety of missile defenses and preferably cheaper missile defenses,” he said. One of Washington’s biggest advantages is its ability to conduct long-range strikes from beneath the ocean. U.S. submarines can fire cruise missiles from virtually anywhere in the Western Pacific, without relying on allied basing and without exposing launchers to Chinese fire — a degree of stealth China does not yet possess. Command integration is another area where Beijing continues to struggle. American units routinely train in multi-domain operations that knit together air, sea, cyber, space and ground-based fires. Jones and Heginbotham both noted that the People’s Liberation Army has far less experience coordinating forces across services and continues to grapple with doctrinal and organizational problems, including the dual commander–political commissar structure inside its missile brigades. Alliances may be the most consequential difference. Japan, the Philippines, Australia and South Korea provide depth, intelligence sharing, logistics hubs and potential launch points for U.S. forces. China has no comparable network of partners, leaving it to operate from a much narrower geographic footprint. In a missile war, accuracy, integration and survivability often matter more than sheer volume — and in those areas the United States still holds meaningful advantages. At the heart of this competition is geography. Missiles matter less than the places they can be launched from, and China’s ability to project power beyond its coastline remains sharply constrained. “They’ve got big power-projection problems right now,” Jones said. “They don’t have a lot of basing as you get outside of the first island chain.” The United States faces its own version of that challenge. Long-range Army and Marine Corps fires require host-nation permission, turning diplomacy into a form of firepower. “It’s absolutely central,” Heginbotham said. “You do need regional basing.” Recent U.S. agreements with the Philippines, along with expanded cooperation with Japan and Australia, reflect a push to position American launchers close enough to matter without permanently stationing large ground forces there. A U.S.–China land conflict would not involve armored columns maneuvering for territory. The decisive question is whether missile units on both sides can