First ever fraud firing

Eric Grumdahl, Assistant Commissioner of the state Department of Human Services (DHS) became the first bureaucrat in the seven-year tenure of Gov. Tim Walz to be held accountable for the more than $1 billion in fraud perpetrated against state taxpayers.

Finally.

The official staff bio page on the DHS website for Asst. Comm. Grumdahl is no longer active. However, as of this writing, he is still listed on the executive roster.

According to this University of Minnesota press release, Grumdahl was first hired by DHS in August 2022. He was a double major at the U. in philosophy and women’s studies.

State Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) publicized the firing this morning in a news release just ahead of a meeting of her Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight committee this morning in St. Paul. Chair Robbins writes,

[T]he Department of Human Services reached out to Chair Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) to inform her that Assistant Commissioner of Homelessness & Housing Supports, Eric Grumdahl, had been terminated yesterday.

Quoting Rep. Robbins:

This is yet another example of DHS and the Walz Administration dodging accountability for their failures. I would have expected Assistant Commissioner Grumdahl to attend the hearing and answer questions today, but DHS never intended for him to come.

KARE-11 TV reports, “Grumdahl was involved in the oversight of Minnesota’s HSS program.”

The committee hearing went ahead anyway this morning, and the video can be seen here. The Fraud committee’s next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 14.

Rep. Robbins had previously announced that she is running for governor in 2026.

As for Gov. Walz himself, just yesterday he released a campaign video where he claimed (1:16 mark) that he’s unable to “crack down on fraud” until 2027, after he wins a third term as governor.

But then just today, he announced a new “executive order” under the heading,

Empowering State Agencies to Continue Combatting Fraud.

“Continue”? When did they start?

This action raises the obvious question as to why it wasn’t done three years ago, or four years ago, or five years ago. Or last March. The document reads less like an executive order than an inter-office memo instructing staff to quit allowing fraud, if they can spare the time away from more pressing priorities.

Walz is quoted:

We have no tolerance for fraud in the State of Minnesota.

“Have,” as in the present tense. Walz had plenty of tolerance for the first $1 billion in fraud.