SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

Dear Fourth District Constituent,

Tomorrow at midnight, the federal government will shut down if Republicans continue to refuse to bring up a bipartisan Continuing Resolution to temporarily keep the government funded and open.

Instead, Republicans have squandered more time this week passing their hyper-partisan Appropriations bills with extreme social policy riders that aim to divide us, including targeting women, LGBTQ+ people, and communities of color. 

On Thursday, they narrowly passed the FY 24 Defense Appropriations bill, but not without first stripping the Ukraine assistance that has been included in the bill since 2015—playing games with our support for global democracy while a shutdown looms. 

And today, Republicans failed to pass their own version of a Continuing Resolution that would have made devastating 30% across-the-board cuts, taking food out of the mouths of children, families and seniors; decimating the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) even as temperatures begin to drop; and halting Federal Aviation Administration operations, including air traffic controllers and many other priorities for our community.

The House needs to stop wasting time and follow Senate’s lead and bring up a bipartisan Continuing Resolution to fund the government and pass supplemental funding to assist Ukraine, along with passing critical disaster relief funding. To be clear: by failing to pass this bipartisan legislation and focusing only on their extreme bills—which have no chance at becoming law—they will force a government shutdown that will have consequences for our communities, economy, and national security:

In Minnesota:

• 459,439 SNAP beneficiaries would lose access to nutrition assistance—taking food away from families and harming children, seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans.
• More than 108,000 people would soon lose access to benefits for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
• FDA inspections would be temporarily halted, threatening the safety of our food supply.
• Critical federal research on diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s would be stalled.
• Social Security applications will go unprocessed
• Air travel could be impacted
• From to FEMA disaster workers to scientists to FBI agents to active-duty service members, hardworking federal employees work every day to make our communities stronger. A Republican shutdown would make them go without pay.

Unfortunately, Minnesotans and all Americans would be impacted in many other ways if Republicans do not bring up a bipartisan Continuing Resolution to keep the government open. Find more information on shutdown impacts here.

My office has posted answers to Frequently Asked Questions for constituents concerned about how a government shutdown could impact you. We will update this page as more information and resources become available. 

Rest assured that my staff and I will continue working on your behalf and will remain available to assist you as usual—although we may not be able to get answers from federal agencies that have been shuttered.

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for being an informed and engaged constituent.

Sincerely,

Betty McCollum
Member of Congress