By Madison McVan | Reformer
Good morning, Reformers.
Vice President JD Vance is asking the Department of Justice to open criminal investigations into Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison over their failure to act on early warnings of fraud in government programs.
A post by the official X account for the GOP-led House Committee on Oversight refers to “$9 billion in Medicaid lost.” That number — $9 billion — came from a press conference held by then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson in December, announcing a number of fraud charges.
Thomson said 14 “high-risk” Medicaid programs billed $18 billion since 2018, and that “half or more” of that amount is possibly fraudulent — hence the $9 billion figure.
Minnesota Department of Human Services Inspector General James Clark called Thompson’s “speculation” on the fraud total “shocking” at the time.
Prosecutors have so far charged dozens of people with fraud-related crimes accounting for a few hundred million in ill-gotten funds. We may never know how accurate Thompson’s $9 billion estimate is, as a wave of departures from the DOJ earlier this year — including Thompson and other longtime fraud investigators — stalled investigations.
Recall that Trump’s DOJ previously sent subpoenas to the offices of Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey in January, related to an investigation over whether they impeded immigration enforcement. We’ve heard nothing since then. Trump’s DOJ also tried, with almost no success, to go after Sen. Mark Kelly, former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and James Comey, the former head of the FBI.
In other words, it’s hard to know whether to take this latest salvo seriously.
To the rest of the news:
Sen. Amy Klobuchar and her running mate Ben Schierer, former mayor of Fergus Falls, lay out Klobuchar’s plan for housing policy if she wins the governorship alongside first-time homebuyers and housing advocates at a press conference in Columbia Heights Monday, June 8, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
By Alyssa Chen
Sen. Amy Klobuchar committed to putting Minnesota “on a path to build” at least 100,000 new homes if she’s elected governor in November.
Klobuchar said she plans to cut red tape around construction, such as by standardizing the permitting application process, which doesn’t necessarily require legislative approval.
On a more contentious issue, however, she did not commit to forcing local governments to allow more housing development through statewide zoning changes, like mandating that cities allow apartments near commercial districts.
By Max Nesterak
Legendary labor leader Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers, urged hundreds of union leaders gathered in Minneapolis on Monday to look beyond their differences and remain optimistic despite unprecedented assaults on unions and immigrants.
Huerta, 96, was honored as the first recipient of the AFL-CIO Si Se Puede Award, named in her honor after the United Farm Workers slogan and union rally cry — meaning “Yes, we can!” — that Huerta created.
By Jeff Stark
The business manager of finishing trades union sings the praises of unions:
“Construction workers learned recently that they were owed $1.28 million in wages and damages after a years-long pattern of wage theft came to light. The development was tied to Minnesota’s Wilf family, owners of the Minnesota Vikings.
The reason those workers saw justice is simple: Unions, backed by attorneys and worker advocates, stepped in and helped them fight back and recover what they were owed.
When a billionaire tells you a union is bad for you, that’s not advice. That’s a signal that you’re onto something that actually works.”
IN OTHER NEWS
Trump administration $100,000 visa fee for highly skilled foreign workers struck down | Reformer via States Newsroom
What we know about weight-loss drugs is rapidly changing | New York Times
OH BY THE WAY
I’m back at work after a couple weeks off for a solo trip to Europe — Munich, Berlin, Copenhagen and an accidental stop in Sweden.
I spent a lot of time learning about WWII and its aftermath. During my time in Munich, I took a train to Dachau to visit the concentration camp — the first and longest-running of the Nazi regime.
As American soldiers approached the camp in April of 1945, they came across a freight train, more than 30 cars long, stopped in the middle of the village. Inside, they discovered thousands of corpses in an advanced state of decomposition. Horrified that this atrocity had been committed in plain sight of the villagers, without any intervention, the American soldiers forced local farmers to dig mass graves and bury the bodies.
The path from the Dachau train station to the concentration camp is lined with informational markers.
I don’t have much to say about the parallels between Germany’s descent into fascism and our own that hasn’t already been written about by people smarter than I. (I’ll point you to the work of M. Gessen, for starters.) And I’m still chewing on questions, far from arriving at answers.
How will we remember — publicly — the crimes committed by our government, decades from now? How and when might the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti be able to seek justice? Is it possible for us, Americans, to rewrite our foundational laws to correct the fatal flaws that the Trump administration has exposed? Who would the public trust to lead a justice and reconciliation process?
Your speculation is as good as mine.
And, a song for your Tuesday, ripped from my German friend’s wedding playlist.
That’s all from me. Have a great day!
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