Minnesota Fraud Explodes, LA & Australian terror + US Labor Sec Lori Chavez-DeRemer & OPM Director Scott Kupor

Dec 16, 2025

Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the U.S. Secretary of Labor, is on a mission to combat unemployment fraud and promote American apprenticeships. She sheds light on the significant $8M fraud case in Minnesota, emphasizing the importance of oversight. Scott Kupor, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, discusses the new TechForce initiative aimed at attracting early-career tech talent and reforming merit-based hiring practices. Both guests share insights on improving workforce readiness and addressing labor challenges in today’s economy.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Slush Funds Created A Fraud Playground

Emergency COVID-era slush funds created huge oversight gaps that invited large-scale fraud.
The hosts link federal haste and political choices to billions disappearing from state programs.

ANECDOTE

Fraudulent Businesses At One Address

Fox reported 22 fraud-linked entities registered at one Griggs Midway address billing millions to Medicaid.
The hosts described the building as an obvious 'fraud incubator' and mocked its abandoned appearance.

ADVICE

Use Strike Teams To Hunt UI Fraud

Deploy targeted strike teams to audit and recover unemployment insurance fraud quickly.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer said DOL will send UI strike teams to Minnesota and other states to hunt fraud and return funds.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

🎙️ The fellas discuss how billions in COVID-era funding vanished through fraud in Minnesota. We walk through how the slush funds were set up, why there was almost no oversight, and how state leadership dodged responsibility while taxpayers got fleeced. We also break down the absurd defenses that Tim Walz continues to offer up. This was not some paperwork error—it was an invitation to steal.

💪 Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer is cleaning up unemployment insurance fraud, cracking down on abuse of worker programs, and restoring trust in systems that are supposed to help people. We also get into her work to create apprenticeships and trade skills for Americans. Plus her thoughts on why the American worker is being boxed out by policies that reward shortcuts instead of effort.

🐘 Another major announcement from the Office of Personnel Management on a new effort to bring early-career technical talent into government. We talk with Scott Kupor about merit-based hiring, ditching credential gatekeeping, and why rebuilding state capacity starts with trusting people who can actually do the work.

Our Sponsors:

➢Beverage America believes in the promise that makes this nation great. Learn more at http://wedeliverforamerica.org/

➢Unleash American energy to be bigger and better than ever before, because when America builds, America wins. https://permittingreformnow.org/

➢John Deere is investing billions in American factories and launching new tools to help customers repair their machines: https://www.deere.com/

➢We can create a space where girls can connect and thrive. Get involved today at https://empowerourfuturecoalition.com/

00:00 — Why emergency slush funds created a fraud playground

05:52 — Tim Walz refuses to protest his citizens

10:15 — What real oversight would have caught immediately

12:23 — US Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer

17:07 — Apprenticeships, trade skills, and rebuilding worker pride

22:46 — Protecting American labor

33:30 — AI, workforce training, and staying competitive

52:14 — FBI stops a far-left terror plot before New Year’s Eve

58:00 — Overseas attacks and the cost of ignoring extremism

1:08:01 — OPM Director Scott Kupor

1:25:23 — Variety

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices