On Dec. 26, Nick Shirley took to X and YouTube to post a 42 minute documentary where he did spot checks on a handful of federally funded institutions in Minnesota that are owned by Somali immigrants. Over the past few days the documentary has only grown and captured public interest — prompting Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services to announce a freeze to the state’s child care funding.
The video is definitely going to be one of the main political stories in early 2026. President Donald Trump has already expressed his distaste for Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, even going as far as making personal jabs about her personal life. Furthermore, Trump has also made his distaste for Gov. Tim Walz even more clear and used one of his unhinged Truth Social posts to call him a slur.
But when Shirley’s documentary first built an audience, it was apparent that any past political sand lines wouldn’t matter anymore. In fact, at some point about halfway during the runtime, a lady who was trying to stop Shirley and his affiliate, thinking they worked for ICE, had to step back after they presented her with what they claimed to be proof of fraud.
🚨 Here is the full 42 minutes of my crew and I exposing Minnesota fraud, this might be my most important work yet. We uncovered over $110,000,000 in ONE day. Like it and share it around like wildfire! Its time to hold these corrupt politicians and fraudsters accountable
— Nick shirley (@nickshirleyy) December 26, 2025
We ALL… pic.twitter.com/E3Penx2o7a
The documentary just follows the two as they try to access daycare and healthcare facilities that claim to host about 90 children. Shirley and his affiliate claim that there are no children who ever get hosted at the facilities and that these taxpayer funded institutions are simply elaborate ruses for fraud.
It’s important to state that the owners of the institution have denied Shirley’s claims from his one-day check. They claim it’s far more complex than that. Some of the facilities allegedly do house calls and some apparently host kids after school hours. The investigations are ongoing and more answers will trickle in by the day.
On Dec. 30, the Department of Health and Human Services took to their official X account and announced that the federal agency will be freezing child care payments to the state in response to the video. Vice President JD Vance was one of the first government officials to applaud the move by writing, “Turning off payments and forcing verification before taxpayer money flows out the door is one of the most important steps we can take to end the fraud in Minnesota. But there will be many more to come.”
Turning off payments and forcing verification before taxpayer money flows out the door is one of the most important steps we can take to end the fraud in Minnesota. But there will be many more to come.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) December 31, 2025
Great job to @HHS_Jim and @SecKennedy. https://t.co/OwDf3JeloS
According to NBC, Gov. Tim Walz didn’t take too well to the announcement. Walz didn’t deny the possibility of fraud — instead he just said that tracking down the people using the program for fraud and personal gain have been getting tracked down diligently over the course of many months. But it’s unlikely that the Trump administration will be on the same page, considering how much they have favored extrajudicial strikes and deportations.
Walz blamed the president for politicizing the matter — and added that the program is still useful to the other non fraudulent Minnesotans. There is a high likelihood that fraud is going on in that particular vertical in Minnesota, but blanket punishments rarely work. Legal routes are far more reliable for long-term solutions.
Published: Jan 1, 2026 11:37 am