Split vote blocks House fraud panel's attempt to subpoena U.S. Rep. Omar

A rarely used legislative tactic will not occur in the final 12 days of this year’s session.

A motion to issue a subpoena to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to produce documentation related to the Feeding our Future scandal failed to garner enough support Tuesday by the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee.

Per the agreement for working together in a tied House, the committee was given authority to issue subpoenas, but with six votes needed to do so, the committee’s five Republicans offered support and three DFLers were opposed.

Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) said Omar sponsored the federal MEALS Act.

“Rep. Omar had some role, whether it’s inadvertent or not, she passed the MEALS Act in March 2020 and that took the guardrails off the federal school nutrition program which created the conditions for Feeding our Future,” Robbins said.

She said documents from a Feeding our Future case have been requested, and the Democratic congresswoman has been asked to appear before the committee multiple times, the latest in an April 22 letter with a May 5 response deadline.

“The only tool left for us as a committee if we want to get these documents is to issue a subpoena,” Robbins said. “We’ve never done this in the history of this committee; we have never done it in the history of this body except for ethics investigations, and I don’t do it lightly.”

The committee has existed since February 2025. Rep. Dave Pinto (DFL-St. Paul), in part, wondered why the sudden urgency.

In looking at the development of fraud in the state, Robbins said something that came to her attention earlier this year is trial exhibits.

The House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee has an end of session wrap-up discussion May 5. (Photo by Andrew VonBank)

“We thought it’d be very helpful to understand from Rep. Omar’s perspective how she thought the MEALS Act has impacted the community, why she brought it, what communication she had with the fraudsters. … I think it’s very material to our understanding how we got here.”

Even if Omar were to testify or information is received, Pinto said he does not see the committee — with less than two weeks left in session — doing anything with that information.

“We know the president and federal administration have got no hesitation going after political enemies and investigating them in all sorts of ways. If there’s any sort of wrongdoing by Congresswoman Omar — and if there’s no wrongdoing by Congresswoman Omar — I have no doubt the Trump Administration will do all it can with all the resources it has.”

Rep. Isaac Schultz (R-Elmdale Township) looks to the future with the subpoena.

“Feeding our Future is one part of the picture as it relates to what we know is to come in the fraud we’ve seen in Medicaid. Now, we have this opportunity to use our tools here in the House of Representatives to issue this subpoena to gain a greater understanding so that we can stop the web, the industrial scale web of fraud in Minnesota.”