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The Democratic side of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee dais was empty Wednesday as Republicans questioned witnesses at a hearing on “Exposing Fraud in America,” prompting GOP lawmakers to accuse the minority of ducking a politically uncomfortable issue.
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., the ranking member on the committee, was the only Democrat at the hearing’s opening statement and then appeared to leave sometime before Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., began his questioning of witnesses Nick Shirley, James O’Keefe and Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette.
Otherwise, the Democratic side of the dais was vacant.
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Fox News Digital reached out to every Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, but none responded by press time. Fox News Digital also reached out to Paul for his reaction.
Republicans and conservative commentators quickly criticized the Democrats’ absence amid ongoing scrutiny of fraud cases in Minnesota, California and other states.
Besides Peters, who did not stay for the main portion of the hearing, Democrats on the panel include senators John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Andy Kim of New Jersey and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
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At one point, Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, pointed out the elephant — or donkey — missing from the room.
When Paul turned to call on Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., to offer his questions, Moreno said a Democrat is supposed to be given time to question witnesses after a Republican finishes.
“If there were a Democrat here, yes,” Paul replied. “So, there’s no Democrats present at a hearing about fraud,” Moreno said, leading Paul to state for the record, “There doesn’t appear to be a great deal of interest across the aisle.”
The lack of attendance from the Democrats drew criticisms online.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., labeled the no-show Democrats “cowards” in an X message.
Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner asked Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., about the optics of Democrats’ half-circle of empty seats on Wednesday.
“They don’t want to know the truth about this. … You look at these areas that have just basically turned a blind eye and have let people move forward with fraud,” Blackburn said.
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Blackburn previously introduced legislation that would make defrauding the federal government a denaturalizing and deportable offense, she said.
Florida political reporter Eric Daugherty commented that the Senate held an important “anti-taxpayer fraud meeting … with Nick Shirley and James O’Keefe, and … every single Democrat seat is empty.”
“One hundred percent of Democrats on the committee were invited – 0% showed up. The party of fraud,” Daugherty declared.
During the hearing, Shirley sounded off about what he and his reporting partner David Hoch discovered as they visited various, largely Somali-owned daycare center addresses in Minneapolis.
“When we talk about fraud, we are talking about money stolen from hardworking, law-abiding, taxpaying citizens,” Shirley said.
“This issue has nothing to do with political parties, because no dollar says Republican or Democrat on it. When a fraudster commits fraud, he or she steals from all of us. The worst part is that fraud affects the most vulnerable and needy, as they rely the most on government services,” he said, describing a 43-minute video he composed from touring such sites with Hoch in Minneapolis.
Shirley and Hoch’s work later earned them a State of the Union invitation from Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn.
With the Democratic dais vacant, Shirley noted that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced in January 2026 that he would not seek a third term, and the daycare organization with the highest level of government funding purportedly pleaded guilty to fraud and the largest “autism fraud” bust in history has occurred in Minnesota.
“Elon [Musk] was right when he said, ‘The fraudsters always complain the loudest,'” he said.
James O’Keefe testified about his work in Los Angeles, where he and his journalists recorded 28 exchanges with election petition circulators offering money or drugs in exchange for ballot signatures.
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“They campaign in this building (the Capitol) about freedom and protecting democracy, preventing disenfranchisement and how nobody is above the law,” O’Keefe testified.
“But if those principles are not enforced when they are violated in broad daylight, they are not principles at all. They are slogans.”
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