St Paul, Jan. 1 -- The US Department of Health and Human Services has frozen federal child care funding to Minnesota, citing concerns regarding widespread fraud, a move that has prompted a sharp response from state officials and intensified political tensions over public assistance programmes.
Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O'Neill announced the decision in a post on X, alleging that "blatant fraud . appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country". "We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud," he wrote.
O'Neill linked the action to a video by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley, which claimed that nearly a dozen Minnesota day care centres receiving public funds were not actually providing services.
He said feder...