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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is seen at a Jan. 5 news conference in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he announced that he was abandoning his re-election campaign. Now, Republicans in the state legislature are planning to impeach him. (Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)

RECKONING: Minnesota Republicans Preparing to Impeach Democratic Gov. Tim Walz

By Joe Saunders January 13, 2026 at 4:50pm

A week after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz declared he would not seek re-election to a third term, some Minnesota Republicans are making it clear they want him out of office long before the November election.

With Minnesota in the national spotlight over a massive fraud scandal, as well as the uproar over an Immigration and Customs Enforcement shooting, an impeachment case is brewing in the North Star state, Republican lawmakers told Blaze News in an article published Monday.

And one Republican has made it official.

In a Facebook post published Monday, GOP state Rep. Tim Wiener announced he had filed articles of impeachment against Walz, citing “corrupt conduct” that helped conceal ongoing fraud by a group made up largely of Minnesota’s Somali immigrant population.

“Timothy J. Walz, Governor of the State of Minnesota, has violated his constitutional oath of office by knowingly concealing or permitting the concealment of widespread fraud within Minnesota state administered programs, despite repeated warnings, audits, reports and public indicators of systemic abuse,” the first article of impeachment states.

The internal politics of Minnesota make the impeachment a long shot for success.

Republicans hold only a one-seat majority in the state House, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The state Senate is tied at 33 votes for each party, after the Dec. 26 death of state Sen. Kari Dziedzic. Dziedzick, a Democrat and 12-year veteran of the legislature, died of cancer, according to CBS News.

Not only that, but special elections for House and Senate seats scheduled for Jan. 28 could change control in both houses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

All of that means it might be possible that Republicans in the House could successfully muscle through an impeachment vote on the Democratic governor. But a conviction in the Senate, whether controlled by a bare majority of Republicans or Democrats, would still require a two-thirds majority — something all but impossible under the circumstances.

But it doesn’t look like the unfavorable political arithmetic will keep Republicans from trying.

“Fraud is happening. Fraud is going on. You need to put tighter levers on this. And he’s done just the opposite,” state Rep. Ben Davis told Blaze News.

Regardless of the outcome, the situation represents a disastrous fall in political fortunes.

In the run-up to the 2024 election, Walz was the Democratic candidate for vice president, sharing the ticket with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

Now, he’s gone from being a household name as a Democratic rising star to a nationally known lame duck, playing out the end of his term in an unforgiving media glare.

And it isn’t just Republicans in Minnesota who want Walz out.

In an interview last week with Fox News’ Jesse Watters, Vice President J.D. Vance, who defeated Walz soundly in a vice presidential debate before the November 2024 election, declared that Walz should resign.

EXCLUSIVE: Vice President JD Vance ORDERS TIM WALZ TO RESIGN over the MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL

”I almost feel bad for the guy, except for the fact that he should have seen this and whether there was something CRIMINAL, whether he was aware of the fraud which would be… pic.twitter.com/fv1MAPKZT9

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) January 7, 2026

“I almost feel bad for the guy, except for the fact that he should have seen this, and whether there was something criminal, whether he was aware of the fraud — which would be criminal — or whether he simply looked the other way, it’s a massive, massive failure of government,” Vance said.

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Tags:

Corruption, Fraud, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Impeachment, Minnesota, Tim Walz, U.S. News

Joe Saunders

Story Editor

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Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro desk editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He's been with Liftable Media since 2015.

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Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He's been with Liftable Media since 2015. Largely a product of Catholic schools, who discovered Ayn Rand in college, Joe is a lifelong newspaperman who learned enough about the trade to be skeptical of every word ever written. He was also lucky enough to have a job that didn't need a printing press to do it.

Birthplace

Philadelphia

Nationality

American