It was announced today that Governor Walz permanently appointed Shireen Gandhi as Human Service Commissioner. Until today, Gandhi had been serving as “temporary” commissioner since February 2025.

 

“It is troubling it took a full year for the Governor to appoint a commissioner to the Department of Human Services, which has been inundated with fraud,” said Senator Michael Kreun (R-Blaine). “Because of the rampant fraud within DHS, it’s imperative that the Senate assume its oversight role and have a confirmation vote on Ms. Gandhi. As Minnesotans have heard for the past year, our state is practically drowning in fraud and much of that has been happening in DHS. That makes it even more troubling that a few weeks ago, Gandhi went on record claiming our state does not have fraud worse than any other state. We are at a precipice – our state needs a commissioner ready to tackle that issue, and the Senate must step up and perform a thorough vetting.”

 

Starting in 2027, Commissioners will be automatically confirmed if 60 days pass without confirmation.