Whip Emmer: Keep the Government Open to Serve Our Cattlemen

As the government funding deadline and the threat of a shutdown approaches, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer is urging his colleagues to keep the government open for the sake of American cattlemen, while allying himself with prominent industry advocates.

“America’s cattlemen need a government that is open and working for them. In states like Minnesota, the agriculture industry is one of our largest economic drivers,” Emmer, R-Minn., told The Daily Signal in a statement Monday.

“The Democrats are playing games with our farmers, ranchers, and producers’ livelihoods. The Democrat Party is so extreme that they would rather appease their radical base than support the millions of hardworking Americans who are literally feeding our country and the world,” he added.

Republicans are attempting to prevent a partial shutdown of the federal government by passing a continuing resolution that would roughly extend current spending levels for seven weeks and buy time for the regular appropriations process.

The stopgap funding bill already passed through the House of Representatives on mostly partisan lines, but could face headwinds in the Senate, where Republicans need at least seven Democrat caucus votes in order to bring it to the floor.

Taking advantage of their shutdown leverage, Democrats have made a series of hefty demands, including: undoing recently passed cost-saving Medicaid reforms, hamstringing the White House’s ability to rescind certain federal funding, and extending expiring Obamacare health care premium tax credits, which were enhanced during the previous administration.

But how would a partial government shutdown affect cattlemen? 

Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association Executive Director Kaitlyn Root, joining Emmer in his call for speedy passage of a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open, said in a statement, “From our local [United States Department of Agriculture] staff to the market news cattle producers rely on daily, there are numerous government services that would halt if the government shuts down.”

A government shutdown could lead to federal employees not being paid, as well as interruptions in services.

“The Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association strongly urges the Senate to pass the House continuing resolution that funds the government and avoids a shutdown. We appreciate all the hard work that House Majority Whip Tom Emmer has done to keep the government open and serving rural America,” she added in the statement.

Buck Wehrbein, the president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, similarly called for keeping the government open in a statement obtained by The Daily Signal.

“A government shutdown is bad for rural America. House Republicans took a critical step by passing a continuing resolution to keep the government open over a week ago. Now, we need the Senate to finish the job and pass legislation to avert a shutdown,” he said.

Wehrbein added, “From cattle marketing programs at [the United States Department of Agriculture] to local field offices serving farmers and ranchers in rural communities across the country, the impact of a government shutdown will be wide reaching and felt by every farming and ranching family. It’s time for Congress to put Americans first and keep the government open.”

A representative for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., did not immediately respond for a request for a response to his comments.

On Monday, Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, also D-N.Y., concluded their meeting with President Donald Trump, with Jeffries saying that “significant and meaningful differences remain.”

Schumer said he hopes that Trump will meet with Republicans in Congress and tell them that “bipartisan input” is needed on disagreements between the two parties.