If lawmakers do not reach an agreement to extend government funding, the federal government will begin shutting down at 12 a.m. on Wednesday.
Democrats and Republicans in Washington remain at odds over how to fund the government. Even though it may feel a world away from Minnesota, a shutdown would hit close to home.
Minnesota members of Congress are standing with their parties.
“By shutting down the government, Democrats are playing games with our farmers’, ranchers’ and producers’ livelihoods,” Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer posted on X.
On the other side of the aisle, Democrat Angie Craig blamed the GOP.
“People are not going to be able to afford their health care,” said Craig.
The battle is focused on roughly $1 trillion in Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (ACA) — aka “Obamacare” — cuts in President Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.” It would have a major impact on health care premiums and even determine who qualifies for ACA subsidies.
ACA tax credits that were passed in 2021 expanded access to Medicaid funding from 11 million people to 24 million people. Those tax credits expire at the end of 2025.
The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that for a Minnesota family with a household income of $100,000, premiums on the exchange would go from $523 a month to $830 a month starting Jan. 1, 2026.
The American Federation of Government Employees is the union that represents 800,000 federal employees who wont be getting paid.
“I mean, they say that they’re going to terminate folks that end up getting furloughed as part of a shutdown,” said federation vice president Ruark Hotopp. “That’s going to be, you know, thousands of employees without paychecks, and that’ll hurt them directly, but then that’s going to have an impact on the economy and the jobs market as well.”
For both sides, there is frustration that this entire debate, and the entire possible government shutdown, is over a funding bill that would fund the government for only six weeks, until Nov. 21. Then it’s likely they will have to do it all over again.
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