JD Vance’s Daddy Issues Just Cost Minnesotans Their Healthcare

I’m sure he had a heads-up, but still, I imagine JD Vance got little butterflies when Trump took a moment to praise him and assign him something other than grunt work during the State of the Union address on Tuesday. “Although [it] started four months ago, I am officially announcing the war on fraud to be led by our ‘great’ Vice President JD Vance,” Trump announced, as Vance stood up, clapped giddily, and shook the president’s hand. “He’ll get it done.” Finally, Vance (probably) thought. An ounce’s worth of attention. 

As such, the liege is wasting no time in carrying out the job his lord master assigned him. 

“We’re announcing today that we have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota,” Vance announced at an afternoon news conference on Wednesday, standing next to Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, Mehmet Oz. “Far too many people have gotten rich by taking what is the best of the American spirit and getting rich off of it instead of providing services to kids who need it. That is stopping today.” Hm… I know he’s talking about Minnesota, but it sure sounds like he’s describing someone else…

Vance and Oz continued by explaining that more than $259 million in Medicaid reimbursements would be frozen while the administration investigates alleged fraud in the state. (Oz said the numbers were based on an audit of the last three months of 2025, and I assume he crunched the numbers between brunch and a cold plunge in his mid-week bro date.) They added that Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) has 60 days to respond to a letter to create a “comprehensive corrective action plan,” and that if the state government fails to act, nearly $1 billion could be on the line. Which is unconscionably fucked, considering nearly 1.3 million Minnesotans—or one fourth of the state—rely on Medicaid.

If you’re wondering why the Trump Administration is cutting off health care for people across our state – look no further than the President’s own words:

“retribution is coming” pic.twitter.com/Wgzth3vAxi

— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) February 26, 2026

“This has nothing to do with fraud,” Walz tweeted on Wednesday, adding: “This is a campaign of retribution. Trump is weaponizing the entirety of the federal government to punish blue states like Minnesota.” 

The announcement comes as the latest manifestation of MAGA’s dogged obsession with the North Star State, or specifically a collection of fraud cases that date back years wherein dozens of individuals—including some of Somali descent—were convicted of using fake organizations to request covid reimbursements from the state government. After the White House used these fraud cases to single out Minnesota in December and claim “refugees from Somalia” were taking over the state, we ended up with Operation Metro Surge, or the horrible immigration campaign that sent 3,000 immigration agents to the Twin Cities, made roughly 20 arrests a day, and killed two American civilians.

“The federal government chose to ignore more than a year of serious and intensive work to fight fraud in our state,” Minnesota Human Services Commissioner Shireen Gandhi told The Hill in a statement. “[This] is part of a broad and sustained attack by the federal government on Medicaid in Minnesota.” Unfortunately, I imagine Vance takes this all as a compliment. After all, his soul is beyond saving.

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