{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.banks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/icymi-fox-news-senator-banks-demands-probe-of-minnesota-childcare-fraud/", "ICYMI: Fox News: Senator Banks Demands Probe of Minnesota Childcare Fraud", "2025-12-29", "2025", "2025-12", "Republican", "Senate", "IN", "Jim Banks", "B001299", "www.banks.senate.gov", "banks", "https://www.banks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.) sent a letter to Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Alex Adams urging the department to investigate and review Minnesota\u2019s childcare contracts in light of recent instances of childcare fraud.\n\nSee excerpts from the story below or read the full story here.\n\nRead the full letter here.\n\nEXCLUSIVE: Senator Jim Banks, R-Ind., is pushing for a federal investigation after sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) calling forthe agency to construct investigative reports of Somali networks as the roughly $9 billion fraud scandal in Minnesota continues to unfold.\n\nThe Indiana senator pointed out that the Minnesota Child Care Assistance Program is administered by the state government, but is largely funded by federal tax dollars through two programs that provide roughly $300 million in federal childcare subsidies to Minnesota.\n\nOn Sunday, Banks sent a letter to Alex J. Adams, the Assistant Secretary for Family Support, leading the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at HHS.\n\n\u201cI urge ACF to investigate reports of Somali networks creating fake \u2018daycare centers\u2019 as vehicles to steal millions of dollars from Minnesota\u2019s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), which administers hundreds of millions of dollars in federal childcare subsidies each year,\u201d Banks\u2019 letter to HHS reads.\n\n\u201cClearly, the Walz administration has failed to meet the most basic benchmarks required by ACF,\u201d Banks explained. \u201cAny unlawful behavior uncovered in ACF\u2019s investigation must be immediately referred to the proper federal authorities including ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and Federal prosecutors.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not stand by while tax dollars meant to support hardworking families are stolen and state officials refuse to act,\u201d Banks added.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.banks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/icymi-fox-news-senator-banks-demands-probe-of-minnesota-childcare-fraud/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5828139148652554, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}