Central ND News

Senator John Hoeven addressed the U.S. Senate, urging Democratic lawmakers to end the ongoing federal government shutdown. Hoeven highlighted the effects of the shutdown on American families and federal employees, including military personnel, Border Patrol agents, and air traffic controllers, who are working without pay.

Hoeven stated, “Today marks the 23rd day of this government shutdown, now the second longest in our nation’s history. Yet despite the mounting consequences, our colleagues across the aisle continue to block a clean, non-partisan continuing resolution, one that would simply keep the government open and allow us to continue our work on the appropriations process. To be clear, there are no Republican priorities included in this bill. It is the same kind of CR that Democrats passed 13 times under President Biden, yet now they refuse to vote for it.”

He continued, “Instead, my colleagues across the aisle have chosen a different path. They’ve taken our government hostage, demanding more than a trillion dollars in new spending, just to keep the lights on and pay federal employees and our military for a few weeks. That’s not compromise. That’s coercion. And while this political stalemate drags on, American families are paying the price.”

Hoeven emphasized the potential impact on social programs, saying, “Vital programs that hardworking families rely on, programs they’ve paid into and depend on, have been shuttered or are dangerously close to running out of money. Several states are now warning they will be forced to shut down Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits as soon as November 1st if this shutdown continues. That means millions of Americans could lose access to the assistance that helps them put food on the table…The list goes on and on.”

He concluded, “The bottom line is this – we need to get government open. We have offered time and again to work on any and all issues, but you do it once you get the government open. This has gone on way too long.”

Hoeven voted in favor of a short-term continuing resolution and legislation by Senator Ron Johnson that would guarantee pay for essential federal workers during funding lapses. Both measures did not advance in the Senate.