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Workers prepare for looming federal government shutdown
As Sept. 30 budget deadline looms in Washington, federal government employees prepare for the worst-case scenario.
MINNEAPOLIS — The political drama playing out in the nation’s capitol is reverberating in Minnesota, as the state’s 20,000 federal workers brace for a potential Oct. 1 federal government shutdown.
Congress has until Sept. 30 just to pass a continuing resolution to keep the federal government running at full steam for another month. Eventually, it will be come down to last-minute negotiations between the Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate, but as of Wednesday, House Republicans still weren’t on the same page with each other.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been negotiating with the conservative House Freedom Caucus, a group of GOP House members demanding concessions in exchange for their “yes” votes on the budget. Even a vote on rules motion to set up a vote on the Department of Defense budget failed to get the needed votes.
“This is an unnecessary crisis that the Republicans have created. I’m shocked that they’re not feeling the weight of what’s happening with their conference, and their majority,” US Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who belongs to the Progressive Caucus, told KARE.
“I just hope that Kevin McCarthy somehow develops a backbone and stands up for the American people and negotiates with us so that we can help make sure there is no shutdown and deliver the votes for him.”
An estimated 800,000 federal workers would be furloughed or required to work without pay in the event of a shutdown. Some federal services would continue while others, such as processing new claims and benefits would slow down or be put on pause.
Fellow Minnesota Democrat Angie Craig Wednesday introduced a bill that would suspend pay for members of Congress during a government shutdown.
“In a shutdown, our air traffic controllers have to come to work every day and they don’t get paid. Our TSA agents have to come to work every day and they don’t get paid,” Rep. Craig told KARE.
“Members of Congress, the very people who couldn’t come to some sort of agreement, they get paid during a government shutdown. So, I just think philosophically it is so wrong.”
Craig serves on the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus along with fellow Minnesota Democrat Dean Phillips. The group is working behind the scenes to come up with ways to solve the budget deadlock.
“The White House and Democrats negotiated in good faith with Speaker McCarthy, shook hands, and reached a deal this summer to prevent the very quagmire in which America now finds itself,” Rep. Phillips told KARE.
“As a member of the House Democratic leadership team and the Problem Solvers Caucus, I’m working tirelessly with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to prevent an unnecessary and inexcusable shutdown.”
McCarthy told Capitol reporters he’s doing all he can to avert a shutdown, but that part of the responsibility lies with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to present compromise budget plans that can win support in both the House and Senate.
Some Republicans see the threat of a shutdown as leverage to downsize the federal government and chip away at the nation’s $33 trillion debt. One proposal that’s been floated is an eight percent cut in government spending, except for the Department of Defense.
But that plan didn’t commit new funds to supporting the allied efforts to defend Ukraine. And it very likely would be dead on arrival in the Senate.
KARE reached out to all four Republican members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation but as by story deadline, none had responded to our inquiries.
Federal workers in Minnesota say they’re weary of the uncertainty in Washington over whether paychecks will still flow or they’ll have what they need to serve the public.
“Like many people, I’m nervous, anxious. This is going to affect not only the VA but the entire American people,” said Jake Roman, a Minneapolis Veterans Administration Hospital nurse who heads the American Federal Government Employees Local 3669 union.
He said the VA will continue to accept and treat patients, and nurses and doctors would continue to work. But he worries about the strain on employees and patients because the shutdown would force a temporary hiring freeze in a medical system that is already understaffed.
“You’re going to have people burning out more. You’re going to have higher turnover,” Roman told KARE.
“We’re hired to be healthcare professionals. We’re hired to take care of our veterans. We’re not hired to be political pawns in some game.”
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PRINCETON, Minn. — As many families fell on hard times due to hurricanes Helene and Milton, their pets have suffered too.
Ruff Start Rescue, headquartered in Princeton, Minn., rescued 24 animals from areas in Tennessee and North Carolina that were hit by hurricanes. Azure Davis, the founder and executive director, visited the KARE 11 studio to share more about these animals and how you can help.
For more information on Ruff Start Rescue and to look at adoptable animals, click here.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office says 26-year-old Maleek Conley was indicted on 13 charges in a shooting that killed two and wounded two others on Dec. 3, 2023.
MINNEAPOLIS — The man accused in a shooting that killed two at a Minneapolis tobacco shop now faces two charges of first-degree murder after being indicted by a Hennepin County grand jury.
Maleek Jabril Conley, 26, was already charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the shooting that occurred on Dec. 3, 2023. An employee of Royal Cigar & Tobacco in Dinkytown told responding Minneapolis police officers that a verbal altercation involving a group of men escalated into a fistfight and then gunfire.
Two men, identified as Jamartre Sanders and Bryson Haskell, were killed in the shooting. Two others were shot but survived. Conley was later identified as the gunman by surveillance video.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Friday that a grand jury indicted Conley on 13 charges related to the tobacco store shooting, including first-degree premeditated murder, two counts of first-degree premeditated attempted murder, four counts of second-degree intentional murder, two counts of attempted second-degree intentional murder, and one count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
“This was a brutal crime,” Moriarty said in a released statement. “Mr. Conley fired at the victims at close range, killing two people and wounding two others. I am grateful for the service of the grand jury in moving us closer to appropriate accountability for Mr. Conley’s shocking conduct.”
Conley remains in custody at the Hennepin County jail.
The recall of yellow onions from Taylor Farms comes after an outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders.
COLORADO, USA — A food service supplier has issued a recall for onions from a Colorado Springs Taylor Farms facility due to possible E. coli contamination, according to a letter provided to 9NEWS by the restaurant chain Illegal Pete’s.
The move by US Foods comes after an outbreak of E. coli that has sickened dozens of people and is blamed for the death of one person in Mesa County. According to health officials, it has been linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders. The outbreak’s exact source is unknown, but the focus has been on slivered onions and the beef patties specifically used by the chain for those burgers.
McDonald’s has stopped serving the burgers.
The letter sent on Wednesday from US Food urged its customers, including Illegal Pete’s to immediately stop using the affected products.
RELATED: Food safety attorney: Lawsuits coming against McDonald’s following Colorado E. coli outbreak
It indicated that the products included were yellow onions from Taylor Farms that were either whole or diced. The recalled onions came from a Taylor Farms facility in Colorado, a U.S. Foods spokesperson said.
In a statement, Illegal Pete’s said they’re taking the issue seriously and are following all of the instructions in the letter.
They also noted that they don’t use a diced/ sliced white onion product that has been identified as a possible source of E. coli. The company said Taylor Farms issued a blanket recall from a certain lots.
The Centers for Disease Control said as of Tuesday that 49 people in 10 states have gotten sick, including 26 illnesses and one death in Colorado. Nine people have been sickened in Nebraska.
At least 10 of Colorado’s cases were reported in Mesa County in western Colorado, according to the county health department spokeswoman.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said the 26 people who have gotten sick in Colorado live in nine counties: Arapahoe, Chaffee, El Paso, Gunnison, Larimer, Mesa, Routt, Teller and Weld. They did not necessarily eat at McDonald’s locations in the counties where they live, the health department said.
The CDC said 10 people across the affected states have been hospitalized. The outbreak also includes a child hospitalized with severe kidney complications.
Everyone interviewed said they ate at McDonald’s before getting sick and specifically mentioned eating a Quarter Pounder hamburger, according to the CDC. The agency said infections were reported between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11.
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