A congressional hearing meant to address widespread government fraud turned into a moment of sharp political contrast when Democrats failed to show up entirely, leaving their side of the dais completely vacant.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee convened to hear testimony about fraud allegations, but not a single Democrat took their seat for the proceedings. The absence did not go unnoticed.
Among those testifying was independent journalist Nick Shirley, who previously exposed large-scale daycare fraud in the Somali community of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Shirley made clear he believes the problem runs far deeper than any single case.
“Fraud is so rampant in the United States that I could go to all 50 states and uncover millions of tax dollars being defrauded, wasted and abused,” Shirley said in his prepared statement. He urged Congress to take sweeping action to protect taxpayer money and put Americans first.
He also offered a blunt explanation for why fraud has gone unchecked for so long. “People wonder how fraud became so rampant in the United States,” he said. “It is because no one ever looked before.”
Shirley directed particular attention toward California. As originally reported by the Western Journal, he told the committee that California’s Medicaid program ballooned from $108 billion to $222 billion even as enrollment rose by less than one percent. “The system is filled with fraudsters. California is functionally bankrupt,” he said.
He also raised concerns about election integrity, citing a case where a dog was registered and voted in two California elections before the owner came forward herself to make a point about the system’s vulnerabilities. Shirley also referenced documented instances of homeless individuals allegedly being paid to vote in the state.
When the hearing wrapped up, Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio delivered a pointed rebuke of the Democratic Party’s no-show.
“I think preventing fraud in government should be completely nonpartisan. It’s not a Democrat issue or Republican issue, yet the entire, almost the entirety of the Republican dias is filled with people sitting here listening to the entire hearing, and literally the entire Democrat dias is empty,” Moreno said.
He did not mince words about what that absence signals to everyday Americans. “I think that’s quite frankly a disgrace. I think it’s a disgrace to the people who pay taxes to know that there’s an entire party that does not care whether taxpayer money is burnt,” the Ohio senator added.
The empty chairs on one side of the room may end up being the most telling image from the entire proceeding.