From Daycare to Hospice: Massive Fraud Cases Emerge in Multiple States

Written By Guest User

Plus: House GOP Rejects Senate-Passed DHS Funding Bill

Good evening,

Before we get to the news this weekend, here’s a taste of what we’re up to this weekend in our weekly Cheers To The Freakin’ Weekend section:

What We’re Watching:

What We’re Reading:

What We’re Eating:

  • Mosh: Pea soup from Second Avenue Deli 🤒🚫

  • Jill: A “girl dinner” of many snacks

  • Lauren: Zeppelin ~Washington, DC

  • Sam: Pickled everything from The Pickle Guys ~Lower East Side

Have a great weekend!

🚨 ONE THING WE’RE WATCHING

House GOP Rejects Senate’s DHS Funding Bill, Drafts Alternative

There is no solution in sight. House Republicans rejected the Senate bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, which it passed by unanimous voice vote early Friday morning.

  • Why? Immigration enforcement funding. The Senate measure funded most of DHS, including the TSA, but excluded additional funding for ICE and Border Patrol (a Senate Democrat demand). House Republicans took issue with that.

    • Notably, much of immigration enforcement is already funded by President Trump’s 2025 tax and spending bill.

  • Now what? House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said the House will move forward with a short-term funding bill for the entire department through May 22.

    • The Senate is on a two-week recess with many lawmakers out of town, though Majority Leader John Thune has floated calling senators back.

At the White House, Trump on Friday signed an executive order directing federal officials to ensure Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents receive pay. Friday marks the second full paycheck agents have missed due to the shutdown. The funding is not being extended to other workers who fall under DHS, like FEMA and the Coast Guard.

It’s been 42 days since the partial government shutdown began, and it is on track to become the longest, surpassing last year’s record 43-day shutdown.

🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

White House Unveils Anti-Fraud Crackdown Across Federal Programs

Vice President JD Vance launched the White House anti-fraud task force Friday, arguing the federal government has failed for decades to take fraud seriously.

  • THEN VS. NOW: He said the Trump administration will restore anti-fraud protections he claims were weakened under the Biden administration and implement a “whole-of-government approach” — requiring agencies to share data and coordinate efforts.

It comes as reporters and officials have found new cases of widespread fraud in multiple states, including Minnesota, California, New York, and Arizona, to name a few.

WHITE HOUSE’S AIM
The Trump administration says the goal of establishing an anti-fraud task force is to create a coordinated federal effort to detect, prevent, and prosecute fraud in major benefits programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance.

Vance said the tragedy of government fraud is that taxpayer money meant to help families is instead going to fraudsters, leaving those in need without critical services.

"You have families who need these services who are unable to get them because people are getting rich off of fraud schemes instead of making sure that autistic children and their families get access to these resources," Vance said Friday.

STATES AT PLAY
The task force follows the viral Nick Shirley investigation into daycare and medical fraud in Minnesota from late last year. A fact sheet on the task force said, "There is strong reason to believe similar vulnerabilities exist in California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Colorado, where insufficient safeguards and weak oversight increase the risk of large-scale fraud." Notably, those are largely Democratic-led states, but fraud exists across party lines.

  • MINNESOTA: Federal prosecutors estimate fraud schemes in the state could exceed $9 billion. The allegations include daycare centers taking millions in taxpayer funds without providing care, roughly $250 million in fake meal claims, and inflated billing tied to housing programs for seniors and people with disabilities.

    • Rewind: In 2021, federal investigators began uncovering pandemic relief beings used for multimillion-dollar fraud schemes. So far, nearly 100 people have faced charges.

    • State officials have pushed back on some claims — particularly those in the Shirley video — saying many daycares were operating as expected.

  • CALIFORNIA: CBS News investigations found that over 700 of the roughly 1,800 hospices in LA County triggered multiple red flags for fraud, including spotting that 89 ‘hospice' companies claim to operate out of one three-story building (see chart below). Recent reporting from Shirley on Medicare fraud tied to California’s hospice is also drawing congressional scrutiny. Rep. James Comer (R-KY) says as much as $3.5 billion may have been lost to fraud, with much of it tied to Los Angeles County.

    • California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office rejected claims the state is responsible for the fraud, noting that “Medicare is a FEDERALLY administered program” and that “California has been cracking down on fraud for YEARS — revoking 280+ hospice licenses and BANNED new ones beginning in 2022.”

  • FLORIDA: The federal government is also investigating Medicaid fraud in Florida, with the governor’s office vowing to cooperation in tackling the issue.

  • ALABAMA: Red states like Alabama are seeing some of the most widespread fraud. Alabama leads the nation with over 26,000 stolen SNAP claims, totaling about $10 million — more than California and New York.

    • The state moved late last year to roll out new cards that function like debit cards, aimed at making them harder to skim or clone.

  • INDIANA: In Indiana, Piece by Piece Autism Centers is accused of exploiting Medicaid billing rules, receiving about $340,000 per patient at one point. From 2019 to 2023, Indiana directly paid the group roughly $58 million. The state has since barred the group’s providers from billing Medicaid.

BIGGER PICTURE: While recent reporting has highlighted some alarming cases, it remains unclear how widespread this is across the country.

Victor Hunt, CEO of home healthcare platform Zingage, told Stat News that 93% of Medicaid and Medicare providers show stable billing patterns, and even irregular cases don’t necessarily point to widespread fraud.

⏳ THE SPEED READ

🚨NATION

  • Iran-linked group hacks FBI director’s personal email (MO NEWS)

  • House panel finds Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of 25 ethics charges (NPR)

  • “In Trump We Trust”: Trump’s signature to be added to U.S. currency (MO NEWS)

  • Agent on Jill Biden’s Secret Service detail accidentally shot himself in the leg, official says (CNN)

  • Assassination plot targeting NYC Palestinian activist Nerdeen Kiswani disrupted by NYPD (FOX)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

  • Iran says it will ‘facilitate and expedite’ humanitarian aid through the Strait of Hormuz (AP)

  • Nepal swears in ex-rapper as new prime minister (BBC)

  • 2 boats carrying aid to Cuba reported missing by Mexico (CBS)

  • Ukraine and Saudi Arabia announce defence cooperation in Kyiv’s first deal in the Gulf (EURO NEWS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

  • Consumer sentiment hits lowest level since December as Americans begin feeling war’s effects (YAHOO)

  • Federal judge temporarily blocks the Pentagon from branding AI firm Anthropic a supply chain risk (AP)

  • Number of AI chatbots ignoring human instructions increasing, study says (GUARDIAN)

  • Artemis II astronauts arrive at Florida launch site for first moon trip in 53 years (AP)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

  • Tiger Woods arrested for DUI after Florida rollover crash (ESPN)

  • Savannah Guthrie plans return to ‘TODAY’ show amid search for missing mother (USA TODAY)

  • Taylor Swift takes home seven awards at iHeartRadio Music Awards 2026, extending her record for most wins (VARIETY)

  • Andrew Garfield defends watching ‘Harry Potter’ despite Rowling’s trans views (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲 : THE HOMEWARD BOUND DOG STORY THAT WASN’T

In case you missed it… A viral story this week about kidnapped dogs escaping captivity from a dog meat restaurant and journeying home together has been debunked thanks to reporting. 👀🐕

  • IM-PAW-SIBLE: The original video, filmed in China’s Jilin province, showed seven dogs — including a golden retriever, a corgi and a German Shepherd — walking together along a highway. The clip quickly went viral. Fake emotional backstories about an escape were added online and amplified by AI-generated recreations.

  • THE TRUTH, UNLEASHED: The Chinese outlet City Evening News tracked down the dogs’ owners, who live a few miles from where the video was filmed. They said the animals were roaming freely and had gathered because the German Shepherd in the group was in heat — not because they were escaping anything. All seven dogs returned home to the nearby village within days.

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