Failed Democratic vice presidential candidate and scandal-ridden Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) could soon be facing impeachment in his home state. Minnesota Rep. Mike Wiener (R) filed articles of impeachment against Walz this week, citing the governor’s “corrupt conduct” related to rampant fraud and abuse of state and federal welfare programs by Minnesota’s sizable Somali immigrant population.

“Timothy J. Walz, Governor of the State of Minnesota, has violated his constitutional oath of office by knowingly concealing or permitting the concealment of widespread fraud within Minnesota state-administered programs, despite repeated warning, audits, reports, and public indicators of systematic abuse,” the impeachment resolution states.

Article I charges Walz with ignoring, failing to act on, and refusing to disclose to the public or to state legislators the numerous reports, briefings, and audit results he had been provided. Article II alleges that Walz has “interfered with lawful oversight, investigation, or corrective action related to fraud in Minnesota state agencies,” including failing to cooperate with state audits, allowing state executive agencies and personnel to resist or defy legislative oversight, and refusing to remove, discipline, or track officials who oversaw fraudulent payments or programs.

Article IV charges that Walz failed “in his constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws of the State of Minnesota, particular[ly] laws governing the stewardship of public funds.” This failure includes allowing statutory safeguards to be ignored or weakened, permitting continued violations of the law, and not complying with anti-fraud and accountability programs.

In comments to The Washington Stand, Wiener asserted, “Impeachment is the only constitutional mechanism by which the legislature can formally accuse a sitting governor of misconduct in office.” He continued, “When citizens believe state government has failed in stewardship of public funds or enforcement of the law, the filing of articles communicates that their concerns are being acknowledged, not buried or dismissed.”

According to Wiener, 10 GOP legislators have already endorsed the impeachment effort against Walz. “The taxpayers have been [de]frauded of an estimated $9 billion. They are demanding accountability of their elected officials,” the Republican lawmaker told a Fox News affiliate. “No one is above the law, and our Constitution gives us the tools to hold the governor accountable for ‘corrupt conduct.’”

Walz’s office has ridiculed the impeachment effort, but did not openly dispute the charges, instead accusing President Donald Trump and his Department of Justice (DOJ) of retaliatory tactics, averring that Minnesota Republicans are participating in that retaliation. “These legislators are apparently trying to capitalize on the president’s vow for ‘retribution’ against the state,” the governor’s office said in a statement. “It is shameful that this is how they’re choosing to spend their time, and we urge them to get serious.”

Should the Minnesota House of Representatives vote to impeach Walz, he would be barred from executing his duties as governor unless acquitted by the state’s Senate. If convicted, he would be removed from office. Earlier this month, Walz already announced that he would discontinue his reelection campaign, making his current and second term as governor his final term.

While attempting to shift the blame for the Somali fraud epidemic in Minnesota to the Trump administration, Walz did effectively admit in a statement that the scandal has all but ended his political career. “For the last several years, an organized group of criminals has sought to take advantage of our state’s generosity. And even as we make progress in the fight against the fraudsters, we now see an organized group of political actors seeking to take advantage of the crisis,” the now-outgoing governor claimed. “A single taxpayer dollar wasted on fraud is a dollar too much to tolerate. And while there’s a role to play for everyone — from the legislature to prosecutors to insurance companies to local and county government — the buck stops with me.”

The rampant fraud in Minnesota has garnered weeks’ worth of national headlines and inspired numerous investigations into the extent of the fraud and how it was permitted to essentially go unchecked for years. Award-winning investigative journalist John Solomon recently reported that Somali immigrants and their couriers have physically carried over $700 million in cash from Minnesota to Somalia over the past two years alone. The cash flow through the Minneapolis airport began around the time Walz took office.

According to Solomon, Somali couriers carried over $342 million through the Minneapolis airport in 2024 and nearly $350 million in 2025. The couriers would take “routine routes” to Dubai via Amsterdam. Citing Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials, Solomon reported that additional couriers would also fly from Seattle, Dallas, Columbus, and Atlanta, so that the total amount of likely-fraudulently-obtained cash flown to Somalia “is likely much higher” than even the $700 million transported through Minneapolis.

A senior TSA official cited said that the agency had regularly elevated concerns over the cash flow to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), but neither agency made serious efforts to address the issue under former President Joe Biden. In 2024, Walz was the running mate of Biden’s deputy, then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Another official recounted that TSA personnel who brought their concerns to Minnesota state officials were accused of racism.

Walz himself has been accused of not only covering up the billions of dollars of fraud in Minnesota but suppressing reports on the crimes and even threatening whistleblowers and their families. A coalition of over 1,000 Minnesota state employees from a range of state agencies publicly alleged that the governor had penalized whistleblowers to keep the fraud money flowing.

“Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota. We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud, but no, we got the opposite response,” the employees reported. “Tim Walz systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression, and did his best to discredit fraud reports. Instead of partnership, we got the full weight of retaliation by Tim Walz,” the group added. “In addition to retaliating against whistleblowers, Tim Walz disempowered the Office of the Legislative Auditor, allowing agencies to disregard their audit findings and guidance.”

 One of those audits, published recently, discovered that Minnesota Department of Human Services’ Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) issued nearly $430 million in grant money between July 1, 2022, and December 31, 2024, but failed to keep track of the money and how it was being spent, repeatedly failed to conduct mandatory monitoring visits to grantee organizations and their facilities, misplaced progress reports, and evidently manufactured and back-dated falsified reports and records once the audit was launched.

In sworn testimony before the Oversight Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, Minnesota state Republican legislators reported that officials in Walz’s administration had surveilled and spied on employee whistleblowers and had not only threatened to terminate the jobs of whistleblowers but had also evidently threatened the safety of whistleblowers and their families. Walz’s own lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan (D), was involved in publicly ridiculing and smearing whistleblowers from within the state’s Department of Human Services. Minnesota Rep. Marion Rarick (R) told Congress that Walz himself “absolutely knew” of the fraud.

Addressing the lessons that federal legislators can learn from Minnesota’s fraud scandal, Wiener told TWS, “Federal programs face difficulties because they are designed to prioritize rapid distribution and political objectives over rigorous stewardship, and because aggressive oversight is often discouraged as a threat to the program itself.” He continued, “Incentives reward agencies for spending funds quickly and expanding participation; slowing distribution to verify eligibility or questionable claims is viewed as obstruction rather than good governance.”

“However, these Federal issues don’t absolve Minnesota of responsibility. Every major federal program administered by the state requires a direct match of Minnesota taxpayer dollars, meaning fiduciary duty to protect these funds,” Wiener explained. “It’s not only a federal failure, it is a breach of the state’s obligation to its own taxpayers, who are financially exposed regardless of where the program originated.”

Currently, Republicans hold a narrow majority (67 seats against the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s 65, with two seats vacant) in the Minnesota House and 33 seats in the state senate, against DFL’s 34 seats. Wiener predicted that the success of the impeachment process will “depend on if legislators work for the taxpayers or the political parties.” He added, “Our responsibility should be to the citizens first. With an estimated $9 billion of fraud in our state, the state constitution gives us the means to” enforce accountability and hold wrongdoers responsible “regardless of political affiliation.”