NORTH DAKOTA (KXNET) — The U.S. government recently averted a Government Shutdown, but bone could loom on the horizon. 

Will everyone in the House hold hands at the end of the day, we don’t know, but Senator Kevin Cramer says things need to get done ASAP regardless

“So what has to be done is we simply have to take up either all 12 appropriations bills or bring them up in clumps, which we are actually doing now in the Senate. We have what’s called a minibus, three of the 12 separate appropriations bills put into one package. I don’t think we’re going to get it all done frankly by the 17th of November. We’ll probably have to have another CR but we need to get enough of it done to create both some momentum and to eat this elephant a few bites at a time. I’m pretty confident we can do that in the Senate. Like I said we’ve already started that process,” said Cramer. 

But according to Cramer, the dysfunction in the U.S. House is the biggest problem.

“We’re a diverse country. It’s reflected in our diverse House of Representatives, which is a diversity of views and philosophies. It’s reflective of our country. There’s no Republican king or Democratic king. There’s no Republican dictator or Democratic dictator. Our founders did it on purpose so that diversity would be reflected in the final package or whatever that might be. The outcomes of our wonderful self-governed people’s house needs to be more respected, I think, by people on all sides,” said Cramer, 

So let’s address the elephant in the house.

A never-before-seen historic vote that now leaves the lower chamber of Congress in chaos.

“First of all, Democrats certainly could have helped Kevin McCarthy maintain his speakership, but they’re under no obligation to do it. It’s not like my Republican friends in the House would have jumped up to help Nancy Pelosi if eight extreme liberals like AOC and Elon Omar and the squad decided to try to oust Nancy Pelosi. I can’t imagine, at least it wouldn’t have been instinctive or intuitive for eight Republicans to jump up and bail her out,” said Cramer. 

He says at the end of the day, it was a sad moment.

“I think, a dark moment for our country when you think that the rules are such that so few people could manipulate something so easily as to vacate the chair, the speaker’s chair. I would hope that by next week they change that rule, eliminate that rule that allows one person to make a motion to vacate the chair. You should take at least a majority of the majority to even initiate such a thing,” said Cramer. 

Cramer gives McCarthy credit in the situation.

“He knew we had to fund the government, he takes that responsibility of governing seriously. It’s not entertainment to him, it’s not a show, it’s not about him, it’s about the country, and he did the right thing for the country. I think it was heroic. I think what Matt Gaetz and the seven that followed him did was cowardly, frankly, and certainly wasn’t conservative. I mean when you out-ally yourself with every single member of the Democratic caucus and you call yourself the eighth, you know, ultraconservative that doesn’t quite add up with me, “said Cramer.