Today Governor Walz announced Shireen Gandhi would no longer be the commissioner of the Department of Human Services (DHS). John Connolly will now step up to serve as temporary commissioner.

This comes just two months after Governor Walz permanently appointed Gandhi, despite her failure to recognize the gravity of fraud occurring in DHS programs. Prior to her appointment, she had been serving as “temporary” commissioner since February 2025.

“It is astounding that we have yet another temporary commissioner overseeing the agency we need steady leadership in to fight the fraud our state has been subjected to – we could have avoided this entire circus had Governor Walz seriously considered who was best-equipped to lead DHS in the first place,” said Senator Paul Utke (R-Park Rapids), Republican lead on the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. “Someone who denies the existence of fraud was never fit to lead the agency experiencing the most fraud our state has ever seen. Keeping her on board as a Deputy Commissioner does a disservice to every single taxpayer that has lost money to the fraud she has totally failed to address.”

“Minnesotans were told Shireen Gandhi’s leadership would bring reform to DHS, yet now she is being shuffled to a different position so that Senate Democrats can avoid a confirmation hearing,” said Senator Jordan Rasmusson (R-Fergus Falls), Republican lead on the Human Services Committee. “While Minnesotans are tired of failure, Democrats continue to ignore the deep, systemic problems embedded in DHS culture and avoid providing any meaningful accountability to the Walz Administration.”

Senate Democrats originally scheduled her confirmation to take place in a joint committee hearing tomorrow. That hearing has been cancelled.