A House Oversight Committee hearing on January 7, 2026, examining fraud and misuse of federal funds in Minnesota turned into a pointed exchange over immigration and public assistance, when Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, pressed witness Brendan Ballou about Somali immigration and cited welfare-usage figures Ballou said he did not know.
A U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on January 7, 2026, titled “Oversight of Fraud and Misuse of Federal Funds in Minnesota: Part I,” focused on allegations of fraud involving public programs in Minnesota and included testimony from several Minnesota state lawmakers and Brendan Ballou, a former Justice Department official, according to the hearing listing on Congress.gov.
During questioning, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) asked Ballou whether “large-scale Somali immigration” makes Minnesota “stronger or weaker.” Ballou replied, “Certainly stronger,” according to accounts published by The Daily Wire and Fox News.
Gill then cited a series of welfare-usage percentages and asked Ballou whether he knew them. In the exchange as reported by both outlets, Gill said 54% of Somali-headed households in Minnesota receive food stamps, compared with 7% for what he called “native Minnesota-headed households.” Ballou began to respond—“Well, to be clear, a majority of —”—and also objected to Gill’s phrasing, arguing that many Somali Minnesotans were born in the United States.
Gill also cited Medicaid participation, saying 73% of Somali-headed households in Minnesota are enrolled, compared with 18% for “native” households, and said “the welfare usage is astoundingly different,” the reports said.
Gill further stated that 81% of Somali-headed households were “on welfare in general,” and that 78% of Somali immigrant households remained on welfare after 10 years in the United States. Ballou said he did not know the figures Gill cited, according to both accounts.
The welfare percentages Gill recited align with figures that have circulated in recent months from analyses attributed to the Center for Immigration Studies, which says it drew on U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data; however, the hearing reports reviewed did not include an independent, government-issued source document for Gill’s specific percentages.
The exchange came amid intensified political scrutiny of fraud investigations in Minnesota. Separate reporting by the Associated Press has described major fraud cases in the state, including the COVID-era “Feeding Our Future” case, and has noted that many defendants in some Minnesota fraud prosecutions have been Somali Americans. The AP has also reported that the prominence of these cases has fueled public debate and increased attention on Minnesota’s Somali community.
Democrats on the panel, including Rep. Robert Garcia of California, cautioned against broad characterizations of Somali Minnesotans based on fraud allegations, Fox News reported.
