A Michigan daycare raked in more than $1 million taxpayer dollars in childcare payments over three years under Democratic Gov. Gretchen Witmer.
Republican state lawmakers actually visited the facility and found one thing conspicuously missing: children.
The Michigan House Oversight Subcommittee on State & Local Public Assistance Programs has launched a formal investigation into suspected fraud at 1st Premier Learning Academy & Daycare in Clinton Township, after lawmakers say multiple site visits turned up no evidence the facility had any children.
The daycare received $1,121,641 in Child Development & Care (CDC) Program reimbursements between fiscal years 2023 and 2026, the committee found. The facility is listed at an identical address investigators say is occupied by a separate daycare whose state license is listed as closed.
Investigators say they could not locate any active childcare license for the facility. It was never properly vetted by the Michigan authorities overseeing childcare licensing statewide.
When the facility phone was called during business hours, investigators were redirected to an answering service. On a June 12 site visit, the building was locked, with no children or staff visible anywhere, despite being allegedly open.
Take a look –
🚨VIDEO: MICHIGAN HOUSE REPUBLICANS UNCOVER POTENTIAL DAYCARE FRAUD🚨
"Some of the businesses in this complex have said that they've never seen children here, that they've never seen this open, and they've been here for decades."
Michigan's House Republicans made investigating… pic.twitter.com/oSDIP6U8Vz
— Michigan House Republicans (@MI_Republicans) June 25, 2026
“Some of the businesses in this complex have said that they’ve never seen children here, that they’ve never seen this open, and they’ve been here for decades,” Rep. Jason Woolford, a Republican, said.
Woolford said the daycare “is not the only business carrying out this scheme” and pledging to get to the bottom of the fraud.
No criminal charges have been filed, and the investigation remains active.
The daycare case fits a pattern playing out across multiple states, where fraudulent shell operations — daycares with no kids, hospices with no patients, social work agencies with no clients — have exploited weak Democrat-run welfare systems to rake in millions in taxpayer dollars with zero oversight.
Michigan lawmakers say this is part of a broader effort to expose similar suspected fraud schemes before more taxpayer money disappears into the hands of criminals.