Wisconsin Lutheran Groups Defending Their Records After Being Targeted by Elon Musk

Friday, February 7th, 2025 -- 1:01 PM

(Anna Van Wagtendonk, Wisconsin Public Radio) Lutheran groups in Wisconsin are defending their records of service after coming under attack on social media by Elon Musk, the tech mogul tapped by President Donald Trump to root out waste and inefficiency in the federal government.

According to Anna Van Wagtendonk with Wisconsin Public Radio, over the weekend, former national security advisor Michael Flynn posted on X, the social media platform Musk owns, accusing Lutheran organizations who receive federal grants of committing “money laundering.”

Musk responded that his team at the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, is “rapidly shutting down these illegal payments.” Federal grants totaling billions of dollars each year go to nonprofits to provide a range of community services that states don’t provide themselves, such as housing or food assistance.

Flynn’s post included screenshots of some Lutheran groups that receive federal funds. But it’s unclear how Flynn identified which Lutheran groups to name in his post, or how Musk determined those payments to be illegal.

The two Wisconsin groups included by name in Flynn’s post are Wisconsin Lutheran Child and Family Services (WLCFS), a Christian mental health care provider in Germantown, and the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation in La Crosse, a nonprofit health clinic that no longer has any affiliation with the Lutheran Church.

A spokesperson for Christian Family Services, which oversees WLCFS, said the group understands its government funding to still be in place. “We have been following the news with interest because we know that any funding we receive, whether from public or private sources, is a privilege and could end at any time,” the spokesperson said.

In a statement, Gundersen’s parent group, Emplify Health, said the group works with officials of all parties. “Any public funding we receive is through existing public programs, approved through the legislative process, and is used to improve access to healthcare for our patients,” the statement reads.

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