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.

“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.