VP Vance announces US halting some Medicaid payments to Minnesota amid fraud scandal

Vice President JD Vance announced Wednesday that the Trump administration is pausing some of its Medicaid payments to Minnesota until it can verify that the Medicaid services they are billed for are actually happening.

The announcement was made alongside Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has 60 days to respond to the administration's actions and clean up the state's systems.

"We have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligation seriously to be good stewards of the American people's tax money," Vance said in a news briefing. 

"What we want to see from the Governor of Minnesota, from the entire administration there in Minnesota, is some affirmative steps to make sure that the people who are billing us for Medicaid services, are actually providing those Medicaid services," he added.

The move comes after President Donald Trump tapped Vance to lead his administration's nationwide response to public welfare fraud, highlighting recent high-profile revelations of large-scale public fraud in Minneapolis.