Gov. Tim Walz has announced changes in leadership at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, 70 days after he appointed Shireen Gandhi as commissioner of the agency.
John Connolly has been named the temporary commissioner, state officials said in a news release. Connolly is the state’s Medicaid director, “overseeing policy across key service areas and leading Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare,” state officials said. He served as deputy commissioner at the agency before Monday’s announcement.
“He [Connolly] previously served as assistant commissioner for the Health Care Administration at DHS and brings extensive experience in public health and behavioral health, including leadership roles with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the California Health and Human Services Agency,” officials said in a news release.
Connolly, in a written statement, said in part, “I accept this position as a committed public servant, with continuity of operations at the forefront, to ensure our Medicaid programs are of the highest quality and public funding is aggressively protected and effectively overseen.”
Connolly asked Gandhi to remain at the state agency as deputy commissioner to oversee Medicaid programming “for the immediate future,” according to officials. He also appointed DHS General Counsel Andrew Johnson as deputy commissioner.
“Since February of 2025, I have led aggressive and proactive work to protect Minnesota’s Medicaid program for Minnesota’s most vulnerable people, to detect and prevent fraud, to prevent federal cuts to funding, and to improve internal culture at the agency,” Gandhi said in a written statement. “My goal has been to hand off the Minnesota Department of Human Services in a stronger position to the next administration in 2027. Because I remain steadfast to these goals, I have accepted Temporary Commissioner Connolly’s request that I return to my position as deputy commissioner.”
Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth said a confirmation hearing for Gandhi was scheduled for Tuesday. Republican officials with the Minnesota Senate said the hearing has since been cancelled.
Johnson, in his role, “leads the agency’s legal strategy and advises executive leadership across health care, behavioral health, aging and disability services, and public program administration,” officials said.
The changes were made “to ensure stability and continue to strengthen oversight, improve program delivery, and protect essential services for Minnesotans,” according to officials, who also cited the Trump administration threatening money meant for the state’s Medicaid program.
On Thursday, Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, announced an additional $91 million in federal Medicaid funding is being deferred, citing ongoing concerns about fraud and program vulnerabilities.
Earlier this year, CMS deferred over $260 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota after auditing fourth-quarter fiscal year 2025 billing.
Demuth said in response to the moves, in part, “Recycling the same failed staff will not root out fraud – only wholesale change will. Fraud will continue until the Walz administration takes the problem seriously, and keeping Shireen Gandhi in a key leadership role proves they still don’t.”
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