LISTEN: Senator Kevin Cramer on “What’s On Your Mind?” with Scott Hennen
WASHINGTON – Sunday night seven Democrats and one Independent joined all Republicans other than Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul in passing a procedural vote in the Senate to reopen the federal government through January 30, 2026.
The bill includes a full-year of funding for several appropriations bills including for the Supplemental Nutrition Program or SNAP through September 30, 2026.
The Trump administration has also agreed to rehire federal government workers fired at the start of the government shutdown.
The deal didn’t include extending Obamacare enhanced premium tax credits which many Democrats wanted. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) said on the Senate Floor Sunday he will hold a vote to extend the credits by the middle of December.
Democratic Virginia Senator Tim Kaine helped get his Democratic colleagues to vote for the plan. On The Flag, North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer said he believes Kaine’s state having a lot of federal workers may have changed his mind.
“The air traffic control situation that was really affecting travel all over, that was really starting to come down on him,” Cramer said on “What’s On Your Mind?” “I think the SNAP benefits running out was very difficult for Democrats to rationalize any longer.”
If the Senate passes this compromise, the House of Representatives will also need to pass it and President Trump must sign it into law for the shutdown to end.
Cramer said the shutdown has lasted as long as it has since senators didn’t spend all their time in Washington trying to hammer out a compromise.
“Oftentimes exhaustion leads to consent. I think one of the things that made it more difficult for this particular shutdown to get fixed was that we didn’t exhaust ourselves,” Cramer explained. “We didn’t spend the weekends here staring at each other, going to church together, whatever it takes to get one more vote here and one more vote there. To me, that was a mistake.”
During the shutdown, President Trump has said he won’t meet with Democrats to try and reach a compromise and will only meet with them once the shutdown is over.
Cramer and his fellow Republican North Dakota Senator John Hoeven voted in favor of the funding bill.
Democratic Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith voted against the measure because it didn’t extend Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits.
