FLASHBACK: Jill Biden visited Minnesota to tout billions in childcare spending during husband's administration
Former first lady Jill Biden went to Minnesota in 2022 to highlight the billions of dollars in investments for childcare that were part of Democrats' American Rescue Plan Act, where she stood next to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and praised him for his leadership helping families.
"We helped states like Minnesota safely keep open childcare centers and family childcare providers and boost pay for their workers," Biden said during a February 2022 visit to the University of Minnesota's Child Development Laboratory School alongside Walz and then-Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
"We supported high quality providers that enrich children's lives, and we helped make them more affordable."
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The 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion COVID-era relief package, allocated nearly $40 billion for childcare after it was passed without any Republican support. Roughly 4 years after the first lady went to Minnesota to tout the Democrat-led investments in childcare, Walz and his state are facing immense blowback for allegedly failing to adequately monitor fraud within the state's Medicaid program and its childcare sector.
According to a local Fox affiliate, daycare centers in Minnesota received roughly $500 million in federal funds in 2021.
"Tim, you understand that childcare is not only critical to families, it's critical to businesses and our economy," the first lady said as she turned to Walz standing behind her as she addressed people at the school.
"And Joe and I are so grateful for your leadership and for the friendship that you and Gewn … that we've had for so many years. And I'm excited to hear more today about what you've done here in Minnesota to help families recover from the uncertainties and the losses from the pandemic."
Earlier this week, a major state audit in Minnesota conducted by the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor found widespread failures and internal control problems in the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) grant program, reaffirming concerns about massive fraud issues in the state.
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The report, released Monday, found that between July 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2024, DHS dished out more than $425 million in grants to 830 organizations, the majority being nongovernmental, and did not show proper oversight in watching over those taxpayer funds, which in many cases were meant to help those with addiction and mental health issues. The audit found missing progress reports and discovered BHA could not show it had completed all required monitoring visits and had no documentation at all for some of them.
The audit also found that when employees were surveyed, 73% of them said they did not receive the necessary training to properly administer and manage grants, with one employee saying, "Executive leadership has repetitively shown staff that they won’t take the staff’s concerns or questions seriously until something serious happens or it makes the news."
The scathing report comes as Minnesota's government agencies and leaders face immense scrutiny amid a fraud scandal that prosecutors say could total as much as $9 billion and has already prompted Gov. Tim Walz to drop his re-election bid.
Some reports have indicated a handful of Minnesota's Democrat leaders allegedly took donations from some of those accused of committing fraud in Minnesota, while others have suggested Walz retaliated against whistleblowers who tried to sound the alarm about the fraud.
Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Jill and Joe Biden but did not receive a response in time for publication.