US V-P J.D. Vance kicks off ‘war on fraud’ by freezing Minnesota funds

WASHINGTON - US Vice-President J.D. Vance on Feb 25 announced a freeze on funding for medical benefits for the Democratic-led state of Minnesota, a day after President Donald Trump tapped him to lead a “war on fraud.”

Minnesota has been in the Republican administration’s crosshairs over claims of benefit fraud, which it has blamed on the Somali community, and an immigration crackdown in which federal agents shot dead two Americans in January.

“We have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota,” Mr Vance told a news conference, referring to the US health insurance programme for low-income Americans.

The federal government would freeze US$259 million (S$327.10 million) in payments to Minnesota, said Dr Mehmet Oz, the TV doctor who is now Mr Trump’s administrator for the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The freeze is almost certain to be challenged in court, as have previous attempts by the Trump administration to withhold federal funds to states.

Mr Trump announced in his State of the Union address on Feb 24 that he was appointing Mr Vance to the new fraud role as he railed against alleged abuses of government benefits in Democratic-controlled states.

The Trump administration has alleged public benefits fraud is widespread in Minnesota’s Somali community as a whole, while Mr Trump himself has repeatedly lashed out at Somali immigrants, including in his speech.

Minnesota has the largest Somali community in the United States.

Mr Vance’s new role comes amid heavy speculation that he will be a frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination.

But it will also put the ambitious Mr Vance, 41, in a long line of US vice-presidents to be given thorny jobs by their bosses.

His predecessor Ms Kamala Harris struggled after then-president Joe Biden tasked her with finding a solution to the causes of migration from Central America. AFP