LISTEN: North Dakota Rep. Julie Fedorchak talks about the government shutdown and the SCORE ACT
WASHINGTON – Even though the Senate has yet to follow suit, Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak said on The Flag she’s surprised how many North Dakotans aren’t aware the House of Representatives passed a bill to fund the government through November 21.
“I’ve been traveling the state and when people say ‘Why isn’t [Speaker of the House] Mike Johnson fixing this?’ and I say ‘We already passed this. We’ve done our work. We voted to open the government and it passed,” Fedorchak explained on What’s On Your Mind?
As of the morning of Oct. 20, the Senate has failed 10 times to pass a bill to refund the government based on the House-passed continuing resolution that doesn’t change spending levels.
To reopen the government, Democrats want Republicans to agree to remove cuts to Medicaid they passed in the One Big Beautiful Act.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the law will lead to 7.5 million Americans losing their coverage. Those who are “able-bodied working-age adults” will now need to work, volunteer or go to school for 80 hours per month to be eligible for Medicaid.
Democrats also want to extend subsidies for those who get their health insurance through Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar said a married couple in their 60s living in Bemidji would see their MNSure premiums go up $1,200 a month if the subsidies aren’t extended.
“Hardworking families don’t have $14,400 lying around. We must stop this health care crisis,” Klobuchar wrote on X.
“I did not believe [the government] would shut down because I thought that [Democrats] would see that this is a pointless exercise and damaging to American citizens,” Fedorchak said, “I completely underestimated the levels to which folks on the left are willing to go to make fiscal or political points.”
North Dakota’s only member of Congress also touched on the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements Act. The Score Act aims to “protect the name, image, and likeness rights of students athletes to promote fair compensation with respect to intercollegiate athletics and for other purposes.”
It would make federal standards for NIL, which is short for ‘Name, Image, and Likeness, restrict colleges and universities from using student fees for athletics and create regulations for agents representing athletes.
The bill passed three House committees and is set to have a floor vote once the government reopens.
Fedorchak said she has worked closely with North Dakota State University and University of North Dakota on this legislation.
“They’re comfortable enough moving forward with it as is as a starting point. As with any big piece of legislation, of course, there’s probably going to need to be tweaks made down the road,” Fedorchak said.
