WHAT PROFIT A MAN IF HE LOSE HIS SOUL TO GAIN THE WORLD. BUT:  For This?

OPEN THREAD: Tuesday’s groovy.

US OUT OF THE UN, UN OUT OF THE US:

DEVELOPING: Trump admin halts all childcare payments to Minnesota after massive fraud allegations: ‘We have turned off the money spigot.’

The Trump administration is cutting off all childcare payments to Minnesota and demanding a comprehensive audit of the state’s day care centers as a mushrooming billion-dollar fraud scandal engulfs the state’s human services department.

“We have frozen all child care payments to the state of Minnesota,” Deputy Health and Human Services Secretary Jim O’Neill wrote on X Tuesday afternoon, days after a viral video investigating alleged fraud at day care centers in the state drew national attention.

O’Neill said Minnesota has “funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to fraudulent daycares across Minnesota over the past decade,” and outlined three actions the department has taken in an attempt to cut off the flow of exploitable funds.

The first action will impose the requirement for “a receipt or photo evidence” for any payments made to states through the US Administration for Children & Families (ACF).

O’Neill said he has “demanded” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz conduct a “comprehensive audit” of the centers highlighted.

Related: With Discovery of Rampant Somali Piracy, Small Business Administration Head Kelly Loeffler Stops Federal Grants to Minnesota.

ANY PORT IN A STORM: Wanted Criminal Migrant Caught Posing as Statue in Nativity Scene. “The bizarre scene unfolded in the small town of Galatone, in southern Italy’s Puglia region. Mayor Flavio Filoni noticed the imposter while observing the outdoor holiday exhibit. At first, he thought the life-sized setup looked so realistic that he considered praising the organizers—until one of the ‘figures’ suddenly shifted.”

Up next: Lefties suddenly reverse course and defend the sanctity of Nativity displays.

IT’S THEFT ALL THE WAY DOWN:

IT’S THEFT, ALL THE WAY DOWN: Shocking unearthed footage shows parents pretending to drop kids off at a Minnesota day care center.

Shocking unearthed video from a 2018 state fraud case shows Minnesota parents dropping their children off at a day care center and then leaving with the kids moments later — as authorities probe a rampant billion-dollar fraud scheme in Minneapolis.

In the surveillance footage, dated 2015 and obtained by Fox 9, parents are seen signing their kids into the facility so providers could bill the state for full days of care for children who didn’t actually attend.

On some days, no families would even show up at all, but the day cares would still claim reimbursements from the government, the outlet reported at the time.

The alleged phony day care centers also gave kickbacks to parents involved.

The clips — which were recorded in 2015 but only came to light in 2018 — resurfaced amid outrage sparked by a viral video from independent journalist Nick Shirley that showed multiple child care centers in Minnesota that had received millions in state funding despite appearing inactive.

US Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the alleged fraud a “breathtaking failure.”

Not until they got caught — and maybe not even then, depending on what, if anything, happens next.

ANALYSIS: TRUE.