Washington Post calls for welfare reform after Minnesota fraud scandal
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The Washington Post editorial board called on the Trump administration to press for “meaningful reform” of the nation’s entitlement programs, particularly the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), after freelance journalist Nick Shirley recently exposed more than $100 million in fraud allegedly occurring in Minnesota’s day care system.
In an editorial on Wednesday, the outlet said that Shirley’s investigation led to Minnesota’s Somali fraud scandal finally piercing the national consciousness, quipping that “such a spirit of diligence would have been welcome a few billion tax dollars ago.”
“As America’s welfare state incorporates more than 80 major federal programs, it has become a target-rich environment for alleged scam artists like those in Minneapolis. Walz’s folly underscores the need for serious reform across America.” post defended. “It’s too bad that so many progressive leaders are at best indifferent to cracking down on fraud and errors for fear it will curtail social services.”
Critics Warn NOW MINNESOTA LAW CONSTITUTES THE ‘NEXT BILLION DOLLAR FRAUD’
The fallout from the Minnesota daycare scam prompted DHS to investigate whether U.S. citizens of Somali descent who were involved in this program could be stripped of their citizenship. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
This nonchalant attitude toward fighting fraud is “especially true when it comes to open-ended entitlement programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” the editorial board argued.
The Post noted that several Democratic states are suing to block the Trump administration’s efforts to “root out waste and fraud” by threatening to cut off SNAP funding to states that refuse to share recipient data, including immigration status.
It’s still unclear whether the Trump administration can legally cut funding, the source added, and blue states filed an injunction in October that temporarily blocked the request.
“The truth is that SNAP doesn’t just help the hungry,” Post said. “This rate was $10.5 billion from 2018 to 2022, the fourth highest documented fraud rate across all federal programs.”
TRUMP TARGETS FRAUD ALLEGATIONS IN MINNESOTA, SAYS ‘WE WILL GET TO THE PROBLEM’
As the Post noted, Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey criticized the administration’s approach, saying President Donald Trump was “playing politics with the ability of working parents, children, seniors and disabled people to afford food.”
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey delivers her inaugural address in the State Capitol House Chamber immediately after taking the oath of office during inauguration ceremonies on January 5, 2023 in Boston. (Steven Senne/AP Photo)
The publication countered that concern by pointing to the state’s own record, noting that “Massachusetts had a 14 percent error rate on SNAP payments in fiscal year 2024 — the seventh-highest error rate in the nation” and that nationwide “overpayments accounted for a larger share of the error rate than underpayments.”
“The tax bill, passed in July, requires states with error rates above 6 percent to pay up to 15 percent of the cost of benefits through 2028. A two-year buffer was put in place to give states with high error rates, like Alaska, extra time to recover — but why should the worst offenders get special treatment?” the editorial board questioned.
“The left claims that Trump wants Americans to go hungry, but if an individual should not be eligible for food stamps in the first place, where is the cruelty in ensuring that benefits go to someone who is?”
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The Post reiterated that “states need to do a better job of vetting welfare recipients,” but that the Trump administration has “an opportunity to push for meaningful reform.”
But he warned it would be a mistake to “waste money by using waste and fraud as excuses to make inefficient cuts, or by using beneficiary data to fuel a mass deportation campaign.”
After Shirley’s claim of widespread fraud in Minnesota’s day care system went viral, the Post said the Trump administration used the momentum to justify freezing all child care payments to the state. The outlet warned that completely eliminating the safety net would “cause more harm from fraudsters.”
President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign event in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on December 19, 2025 (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Rather than freezing all child care payments to states, the editorial board said the federal government should “support reforms that encourage more responsible spending, such as block grants,” and argued that by offering fixed amounts of funding “Washington could encourage states to spend more carefully and vet recipients more thoroughly.”
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The Post concluded: “Social safety nets collapse when most taxpayers feel welfare money is going to people who don’t deserve it. The point of entitlements isn’t to spend as much as possible. It’s to ensure that the truly vulnerable get the help they need without depending on government handouts. Examining food stamp rolls is a small step in that direction.”
