All eight members of Minnesota's U.S. House delegation and the two senators voted Saturday to keep the federal government open for another 45 days, joining the large majority that moved to stave off a midnight shutdown.
All of Minnesota's members of Congress vote to keep federal government open
The state's entire delegation supported the last-ditch bid to keep the federal government open another 45 days. A group of House conservatives were the main source of dissent.
October 1, 2023 at 2:19AM
The state's four Democrats and four Republicans all supported the last-ditch bid by GOP Speaker Kevin McCarthy to prevent a federal shutdown over the objection of a bloc of conservative Republicans. The final vote was 335-91.
In the Senate, where the measure was approved on an 88-9 vote, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith both voted yes.
None of Minnesota's four GOP members — Reps. Tom Emmer, Pete Stauber, Michelle Fischbach and Brad Finstad — joined in that dissent. Emmer, one of McCarthy's top lieutenants, was the subject of a Washington Post story on Friday suggesting some conservatives see him as a potential new speaker if they depose McCarthy.
Nearly all House Democrats supported the measure, including Minnesota Reps. Betty McCollum, Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig and Dean Phillips.
"Once again, House Democrats stood strong for hard-working American families and have prevented a government shutdown at the hands of extremists in the Republican majority," McCollum said in a statement released after the vote.
In a tweet late Saturday, Klobuchar highlighted the need for Ukraine aid, saying her support was unwavering: "Our next step is to negotiate a long term budget and secure funding for the Ukrainian fight for freedom, and we have Republican commitments to move that forward."
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