U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Dr. Mehmet Oz announced on Wednesday that the Trump administration is temporarily halting over 250 million US dollars in federal Medicaid payments to Minnesota, citing the state’s insufficient action against fraud in social-welfare programs, Reuters reported.

Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, responded on X, accusing the administration of political retribution. “This has nothing to do with fraud,” he said. “This is a campaign of retribution. Trump is weaponizing the entirety of the federal government to punish blue states like Minnesota.”

The withholding of Medicaid funds follows a broader federal investigation into alleged fraud that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Justice indicted 47 individuals for allegedly defrauding 250 million US dollars from a federally funded child nutrition program, Reuters noted.

Vance criticised Walz’s administration directly at the press conference. “We are stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously,” he said, underscoring the administration’s stance that Minnesota had not sufficiently addressed fraud in its social-welfare programs.

The Trump administration has also linked these fraud allegations to other federal measures in Minnesota, including a months-long immigration crackdown during which federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, according to Reuters reporting.

Walz warned that the suspension of Medicaid funding would have serious consequences for vulnerable groups in the state, including families, veterans, and people with disabilities.