Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is once again under fire in Washington as the House Oversight Committee moves toward issuing subpoenas for her immigration and marriage records — a development that comes amid intensifying federal investigations into Somali-linked welfare fraud in Minnesota and President Trump’s escalating deportation campaign.
The move, first raised publicly during a Wednesday hearing on the Minnesota benefits scandal, represents the most serious congressional scrutiny yet into Omar’s long-swirling marriage fraud allegations, which have never been formally resolved.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who sits on the Oversight Committee, announced the motion during the hearing.
“We just moved to subpoena Rep. Ilhan Omar and her brother/husband’s immigration records,” Mace said afterward on X. “Federal marriage fraud and knowingly entering a marriage to evade immigration laws is a serious felony punishable by prison time, steep fines, denaturalization, and deportation. Marrying a sibling is illegal in every state. We intend to get to the bottom of it.”
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) confirmed separately that he requested Omar’s immigration records from the House Intelligence Committee.
Omar has consistently denied claims that she entered into a sham marriage with her brother to secure his U.S. residency, calling the allegations “false and Islamophobic.”
However, the timing of the renewed inquiry — as federal law enforcement ramps up deportations and fraud prosecutions tied to Minnesota’s Somali community — underscores how the issue has become entangled with broader Republican efforts to expose systemic corruption in state-administered welfare programs.
At the heart of the controversy is Omar’s 2020 MEALS Act, a pandemic-era bill that loosened federal oversight of school meals programs and allowed the USDA to waive cost restrictions for states.
Federal prosecutors now say those waivers were exploited by bad actors in the Feeding Our Future scandal — a $250 million fraud operation that diverted aid from low-income children into luxury purchases and overseas transfers.
When asked if she regretted her role in pushing the legislation, Omar stood by it. “Absolutely not,” she said. “It did help feed kids.”
But investigators say her district became a hub for what Attorney General Merrick Garland called “the largest pandemic-era fraud identified.” Former FBI Director Christopher Wray said the network “went to great lengths to exploit a program designed to feed underserved children.”
Court records show several figures tied to the scheme had direct or indirect links to Omar’s campaigns. Ahmed Ghedi and Abdihakim Ahmed, two defendants who later pleaded guilty, co-owned Safari Restaurant, where Omar held her 2018 victory celebration.
Both had also donated to her campaign. Omar’s staff later said the funds were redirected to charity once their arrests became public.
Another figure, Guhaad Hashi Said, who worked as a field organizer for Omar in 2018 and 2020, admitted to stealing $3.2 million through a fake food distribution site.
The scandal has already led to more than 70 indictments, most involving Somali-run nonprofits. DHS and FBI agents have since conducted multiple raids in Minneapolis after a viral exposé by independent journalist Nick Shirley, who documented daycare centers listed as active child-care providers but found them locked or empty.
Meanwhile, financial disclosures have placed fresh scrutiny on Omar’s personal finances. Her husband Tim Mynett’s firm, Rose Lake Capital, saw its valuation soar from under $1,000 in 2023 to between $5 million and $25 million in 2024.
A second company listed in Omar’s assets, ESTCRU LLC, jumped from $15,000–$50,000 to as much as $5 million. Both spikes occurred as investigations into the Minnesota fraud widened.
Under mounting pressure, Rose Lake Capital recently removed staff listings from its website, including former Democratic officials and diplomats who had been named as partners.
Omar has not been formally accused of criminal conduct, but congressional investigators say the subpoena is necessary to clarify long-standing inconsistencies in her immigration filings and to determine whether her legislative work intersected with fraudulent networks operating in her district.
Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) has said his committee intends to “fully expose the widespread corruption in Minnesota’s federally funded programs under Gov. Tim Walz’s leadership.”
