North Dakota
Port: As the federal government teeters on edge of shutdown, North Dakota has no vote
MINOT — Barring some late-breaking legislation, the U.S. federal government will shut down within hours.
As this drama unfolds in Washington, North Dakota has no voice in the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislative body where, per Article I, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution, all bills raising revenue must originate.
As I write this, Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican,
is confident
they’ll avoid a shutdown despite funding agreements getting scuttled twice in recent days. Once thanks to agitation from billionaire Elon Musk and once again thanks to a group of House Republicans who refused to agree to raise the national debt ceiling without significant spending cuts.
Given the turmoil in the House Republican caucus and the narrow margins of the Republican majority, any potential deal may pass by only a scant few votes. Which is another way of saying that, in this fraught moment, no side in the debate has any votes to spare.
But a vote from North Dakota won’t be among them. That’s because former U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong resigned his seat in the House on Dec. 14 so he could be sworn in as governor on Dec. 15, which
Article V, Section 5
of the North Dakota Constitution requires. Meanwhile, Rep.-elect Julie Fedorchak is waiting in the wings, but she was elected to the next Congress, not this Congress, so she cannot be seated.
I actually spoke to Armstrong about this drama
in April.
Given the resignations of other House Republicans, it seemed at that time the GOP could lose control of the House before the current Congress ended. Armstrong was confident that the party would replace members through special elections between now and then and he was right. The GOP held onto its majority, slim as it is.
As for Armstrong’s vacancy? “After June 11, we will be keeping the speaker’s office informed,” he also told me at the time, referring to the primary election.
“It’s confusing for folks because they don’t know who is our representative right now,” Fedorchak told me when I spoke to her about it.
She’s feeling flummoxed because there is nothing she can do. Fedorchak was not elected in a special election to replace Armstrong in this Congress. She was elected to fill North Dakota’s at-large seat in the next Congress.
By law, she cannot be seated in this Congress. The next Congress won’t be seated until January. Also, unlike senators, members of the U.S. House can’t be appointed. Outside of holding a special election, there’s no mechanism to fill Armstrong’s vacancy.
This circumstance isn’t anything Armstrong or Fedorchak can remedy. What’s caused it is constitutional law and dysfunction in Washington. North Dakota’s constitution necessitated Armstrong’s resignation from the House so he could be sworn in as governor. The U.S. Constitution prohibits North Dakota from appointing an interim replacement.
Alyssa Goelzer/The Forum
“This isn’t even really a budget fight,” Armstrong spokesman Mike Nowatzki told me. “It’s a CR fight. Congress should do its job and not govern by crisis.”
“He informed them when he was running for governor that this was a possibility. It shouldn’t surprise them that he had a hard out on Dec. 14,” Nowatzki added.
Which may be something for the Legislature to consider going forward. Can the new governor be sworn in at a later date? The timing is already awkward. The state constitution also mandates that lawmakers begin their regular session in January after an election. It also requires an organizational session in mid-December, complete with a budget address from the governor. This year, that was Doug Burgum, who was obliged to deliver an executive budget to lawmakers
as a lame duck just days from leaving office.
Armstrong’s feeling “is that having the governor be sworn in on the day before a legislative session wouldn’t be a good idea,” Nowatzki told me, referring to a possible delay in the swearing-in.
“It’s already a mad scramble,” Nowatzki added. “It would be exponentially more difficult.”
The situation with North Dakota’s at-large House seat is unusual. But the outgoing governor delivering a budget as a lame duck? That happens every time we get a new governor.
This timeline could be reshaped to serve the public better, but that’s easier said than done. Moving the swearing in date to a later time might mean moving the legislative session to a later start. I don’t sense there would be much appetite among lawmakers to do it, and even if there were, it would be a change to the state constitution that would have to be ratified by a vote of the people.
Meanwhile, in Washington, as Republicans fight with Democrats (and other Republicans) over the budget, North Dakotans have no official say in the matter.
The Minnesota women’s basketball team is picking things up where they left them to end the 2024-25 season.
The reigning Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament champions played host to the North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Tuesday night to open the new season and won, 91-47, at Williams Arena.
“Defensively, our young ladies played really, really hard,” head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said. “They were really disruptive. It was really fun to watch. And then on the offensive end, we didn’t make as many shots as we wanted to, but our offensive rebounding was absolutely outstanding.
“The energy really propelled us, and I thought this was a great way to open the season and get things started.”
The Gophers have high expectations after going 25-11 in 2024-25, the last five while winning the WBIT after being snubbed for an NCAA tournament bid. Minnesota struggled in Big Ten play, going 8-10, but was dominant against nonconference opponents, going 17-1.
While the challenges against other Big Ten teams are still a month out, they had a roster shake-up that provided new challenges for the foreseeable future.
Forward Mallory Heyer announced on social media last week that she was leaving the team and entering the transfer portal for ‘personal reasons.’ Heyer’s decision to leave was a shock to many on the team, but her departure led to other players being the stars on both sides of the ball in the season opener.
Senior guard Amaya Battle stepped up where Heyer was best, leading the team with 10 defensive rebounds, while freshman guard Makena Christian made a strong first impression, leading the way with 23 points and making 50% of her 3-point attempts.
The reigning Wisconsin Player of the Year was ranked as the best guard in the state last season, and her play on Tuesday showed 3,300-plus Gophers fans the excitement around their newest starter was well worth it.
“I thought she handled the emotions of playing in her first home contest at a really high level,” Plitzuweit said of Christian’s performance. “I think she’s someone who’s very calm and steady, anyway, but I thought she did some really good things on both end of the court.”
“I was excited to play with all my teammates,” Christian said. “Being in the Barn was really cool. I think the energy was really cool. But the main thing was I was really excited to play with my teammates.”
“Big shoutout to Amaya,” center Sophie Hart said. “Because 10 defensive rebounds, oh my gosh. She has really stepped up in that category. I mean, obviously tonight, but even in practice. So, I’d say it was a team effort.”
Hart scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and grad forward Finau Tonga added 14 points. She was 6 for 8 at the free throw line and corralled seven rebounds.
The Gophers are back in action at 7 p.m. Friday against Manhattan at Williams Arena.
Oregon State got all they could handle from the visiting North Dakota State Bison on Monday night, and it was a Josiah Lake drive-and-finish with under three seconds left that lifted the Beavers to a 67-65 victory on opening night.
Wayne Tinkle’s squad came out strong, bursting out to a 7-0 lead in the opening minutes. But the Bison were able to respond, jumping out to a 13-10 lead with 11:26 left in the first half. Oregon State was then able to reclaim the lead after a couple of Isaiah Sy three-point jumpers, pushing ahead by five points. The Bison would go on a 19-12 run to end the half, however, and the Beavers trailed 32-30 heading into the locker room.
The opening minutes of the second half saw multiple lead changes, with neither side able to gain much separation. After they fell behind 53-49, the Beavers went on a run, and found thesmelves ahead by six with just 5:49 left to play.
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But the Bison wouldn’t go away. Sparked by back-to-back dunks from Markhi Strickland, NDSU went on a quick 6-0 run to tie the game. A Dez White three-pointer put the Beavers back in front momentarily, but this lead quickly evaporated, and the Bison went up 65-64 with 2:17 remaining. Johan Munch hit one of two free throws on the following possession, tying the game at 65. Both teams came away with some stops on the defensive end, and the score remained deadlocked.
After grabbing a defensive rebound with 26 seconds left and the shot clock now off, the Beavers let the clock tick down as they set up their offense. With under five seconds to play, Josiah Lake pulled off a beautiful left-handed drive and finished at the rim, putting the Beavs ahead 67-65 with just two seconds on the clock.
But it wasn’t over yet. Inbounding from their own baseline, NDSU tried a football-style throw towards the sideline, and it was tipped out of play by a Beaver, giving the Bison one last chance to inbound the ball in OSU’s half. Guard Andy Stefonowicz was able to get off a three-point look at the buzzer, but it was a heavily-contested shot that came up well short, and Oregon State walked away with a two-point victory.
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The Beavers were fairly balanced in their scoring, as five different players reached double figures. Sophomore SF Isaiah Sy led the team in scoring, finishing with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists. Missouri State transfer Dez White was equally impressive. He had ten points on the night and also led the Beavers in assists with five. Junior guard Josiah Lake, who played all but five minutes, scored ten points and also grabbed eight rebounds, leading OSU in this category.
With the win, Oregon State improves to 12-0 in opening games under Wayne Tinkle.
The Beavers are back in action on Friday night, when they take on the University of Illinois Chicago at Gill Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT
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GRAND FORKS — A Top 15 matchup in the FCS will play out in the Alerus Center on Saturday when the Fighting Hawks host North Dakota State for the first time since winning the rivalry matchup in the Alerus Center in 2023.
The No. 13 Fighting Hawks and No. 1 Bison kick off at 1 p.m.
Here are three key factors in the matchup.
The UND and NDSU special teams units are trending in opposite directions, and the Fighting Hawks need to address the situation quickly.
UND hasn’t had its starting kicker for the past three weeks, but the Hawks’ special teams woes don’t even start there.
UND has had a punt blocked in consecutive weeks against Indiana State and South Dakota.
After giving up a safety on the punt block, UND also gave up a long kick return, which set the stage for a 9-0 Coyotes advantage to start the game.
NDSU, meanwhile, saw Jackson Williams return a kickoff for a touchdown in a tight win over Youngstown State on Saturday. The Bison also took advantage of a Penguins fumble on a kickoff.
Special teams were a key part of UND’s win over NDSU in 2023, with Luke Skokna returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown.
“I think that’s a huge emphasis for us, and we’ve done some really good things on special teams this year, so to have that happen was really disappointing,” UND head coach Eric Schmidt said. “(NDSU) does a great job in the return game. I think they have an elite returner. He does it a lot of different ways, breaking tackles, hitting it downhill.
“I think they’re really, really sound covering kicks, too. We know we have our work cut out for us. Field position is really important in these games if you can make teams have to go 75-80 yards. It becomes hard to be able to do that.”
UND’s defense has struggled with the running ability of North Dakota State’s quarterbacks in the Division I era, particularly in the Fargodome.
In last year’s game, Cole Payton ran for 47 yards against UND and Cam Miller for 39 more.
Payton now has the full reins of the offense in 2025 and has proven effective in both the run and pass game.
Payton has 640 rushing yards this year with 10 touchdowns and three games of more than 100 yards rushing.
“He’s a load,” Schmidt said. “He does a great job, not just with his arm, but I think he’s been really accurate this year and made some really timely plays, doing a good job of distributing the ball out to their playmakers … just really not taking losses, being able to break tackles and scramble around.
“He’s a big kid that moves well, so he definitely presents some challenges. I think he’s the biggest, most physical QB that we’ve played up to this point.”
3. Jerry Kaminski bouncing back
UND quarterback Jerry Kaminski entered last Saturday’s game against South Dakota with 22 touchdowns to two interceptions on the season.
Kaminski struggled as much as he has all season in a loss to the Coyotes, finishing with two interceptions and no touchdown passes.
UND offensive coordinator Isaac Fruechte is confident in his sophomore quarterback’s ability to bounce back.
“He’s really strong mentally,” Fruechte said. “I love what he has to say after the game. He and I are two peas in a pod sometimes. Hard on ourselves, to a fault sometimes.
“I talked to him (Sunday) and on the bus Saturday coming back. You have to stay positive and can’t let external factors affect your current play. Don’t make the hero play, make the right play. I think that showed up a little where he felt he needed to press and make a play. On the other side, our guys need to make a play for him. He can help himself by trusting his protection and trust what I’m teaching him. Love his response. He wants to get right back in the film room and talk about it. I expect him to rebound really, really well as we move forward. You’re going to have mistakes — you’re human. I call bad plays at times. I did on Saturday. We were still over 50 percent on third down and about 400 yards of total offense. We just need to be more consistent and take care of the football.”
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