To the editor:

Another Trump pledge: Drain the swamp.

Early 2025, D. Trump removed 18 independent Inspectors General (IG). This left 75 percent of all federal departments without an IG. IGs are nonpartisan, independent agents that Federal employees can safely notify about fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement, without retribution. Who better to know if an agency is doing something wrong? In January 2026, Trump nominated Colin McDonald to serve as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of a new DOJ division dedicated to prosecuting fraud. Colin will be under Pam Bondi. Why does the DOJ need a new division when it prosecuted fraud all along? At the 2026 State of the Union speech, Trump announced that JD Vance will head up the new “Fraud Commission”. Why replace nonpartisan, independent IGs with a new commission under JD Vance? Will these be nonpartisan or just another retribution tool?

Feb. 25, 2026, JD Vance said HHS will withhold $259.5 million in MN Medicaid funding due to fraud in MN. The humane way to root out fraud is to do the investigative work to uncover the fraud without doing damage to legal recipients. Unfortunately, that requires compassion, which I have yet to see from federal operations since Jan. 20, 2025. I’ll list more of Trump’s “drain the swamp” progress this May.

I will use my power of the vote Nov. 3 to create a positive change.

Terry Riggs

Fairmont