WASHINGTON — Although they’ve been paused for 30 days, President Donald Trump’s tariff threats showed how dependent Minnesota is on trade with Canada and Mexico.

According to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, about half of Minnesota’s exports went to those two countries and China in 2021, up from about one-third in 2002. And the chamber said trade between Minnesota and Canada grew about 39% from 2019 to 2021.

Those Minnesota exports would suffer if the nations Trump has threatened with tariffs follow through with their own threats to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.

And the huge list of U.S. imports from the countries subject to the new tariffs — which range from cars and wine to pharmaceuticals — would be subject to substantial price hikes, fueling inflation, as U.S. importers pass the cost of the new tax along to consumers.

A trade war with the United States’ closest neighbors and allies was forestalled when Trump reached deals with Mexico and Canada, which would have been subject to 25% tariffs on Tuesday.

But on Tuesday, 10% tariffs will be placed on Chinese goods, which already bear tariffs.

Under the terms of Trump’s agreement with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico would send an additional 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and the United States would aim to stop U.S. trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexican drug cartels.

An agreement with Canada took two phone calls between Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had said he would lodge a protest at the World Trade Organization against the new U.S. tariffs, seek redress under the USMCA and impose more than $155 billion worth of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports.

In a posting on X, Trudeau said he “had a good call with President Trump” on Monday afternoon and suggested the pause on tariffs on Canadian goods was in response to Canada’s agreement to target the flow of fentanyl across the border into the United States.

But while a trade war has been postponed, the threat of an economic upheaval still remains.  

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs would be applied to more than 1,000 American products — from agriculture commodities to clothing and shoes to high-tech products. The list also includes paper products and other goods exported to Canada by Maplewood-based 3M.

“3M is reviewing the recently announced tariffs,” the company said. “We are continuing to monitor the situation.”

A USMCA fact sheet says that in 2019 Canada was Minnesota’s largest export destination and Mexico was the state’s second destination of the state-produced goods, accounting for a combined $7.2 billion in export sales that year.

Trump said he plans to extend tariffs to other nations — including European Union countries — and that they are needed to raise money for the U.S. Treasury. But most economists say U.S. consumers will pay for the cost of the tariffs, not foreign exporters.

“Families are already struggling with high prices and across-the-board tariffs will make it worse,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who supported tariffs on foreign steel she said was dumped at lower prices to hurt domestic producers.

“Tariffs should be applied with scalpel-like precision with specific goals,” Klobuchar said. “Instead, the president is using a sledgehammer and it’s going to clobber our economy.”

Well-traveled pigs

Minnesota’s farmers would be hard hit if there’s a trade war with Canada.

When Trump instituted smaller tariffs on certain imported goods and imported steel and aluminum, Minnesota farmers were hurt by plunging commodity prices and a drop in exports.

Trump was forced to tap a Great Depression-era program, the Commodity Credit Corporation, to pay farmers $28 billion as recompense for their losses.

The USDA estimated that those payments constituted more than one-third of total farm income in 2019 and 2020.

Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation President Dan Glessing said he hoped Trump’s more recent tariffs threats are merely a “bargaining chip” the president is using to seek concessions from allies.

Glessing said the state’s farm economy could survive a new trade war “as long as it does not drag on too long.” But he said the disruptions in the market come at a bad time — on the heels of a two-year slump in U.S. farm exports.

Klobuchar called Canada “a key economic partner for the northern states” and that tariffs on potash from that nation would sharply increase fertilizer costs for Minnesota farmers.

Trump’s tariff policy also raises other questions because of the close relationship of Minnesota’s farmers with their counterparts to the north.

Canada has an agreement with Minnesota pork producers that send piglets to grow into hogs in Canada. These hogs are shipped back to Minnesota and processed into meat products. Some of those pork products are exported back to Canada.

“When you think of how much back-and-forth there is (in the operation), those tariffs could be considerable,” Glessing said.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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WASHINGTON — This week in Washington was marked by the horrific and tragic midair collision between an Army Blackhawk and an American Airlines plane over the Potomac and the rollout and retraction by the Trump administration of a temporary freeze on government funding to states, local governments and non-profit organizations.

The freeze on $3 trillion worth of government programs provoked chaos and panic and was reversed after a group of non-profits procured a court-mandated stay. But the effort to cut off federal funds continues.

Trump’s Office of Management and Budget said it is conducting a review of 2,600 federal programs with an eye to singling out those that promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, facilitate abortions or run afoul of any policy or activity Trump doesn’t like.

So, it’s highly likely the Trump administration will try to freeze government funding again, this time in a more surgical but still impactful manner.  And that attempt is likely to have to be defended in a federal court as it will be challenged as an illegal and unconstitutional impoundment by the executive branch of monies appropriated by Congress.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison joined 22 other Democratic attorneys general this week to sue to stop Trump’s initial attempt to freeze funding and is likely to continue to battle the issue in court.

Democratic members of Congress who are waging a public relations campaign against Trump’s attempt to eliminate programs, are also weighing a court challenge.

As far as the plane crash, President Trump blamed his Democratic predecessors – former Presidents Obama and Biden – and DEI policies for the disaster. But he provided no evidence to back up his allegations.

Meanwhile, fireworks broke out at several confirmation hearings this week, including one for Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In a heated exchange, Sen. Tina Smith, D-MN, brought up Kennedy’s comments against the use of antidepressants, particularly among younger Americans, and his stated link of these anti-depressants to school shooters.

“In fact, most school shooters were not treated for anti-depressants,” she said.

Kennedy said he was talking about many factors that contributed to the shootings and that anti-depressant medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), have serious side effects and need more research.

“I just want to have good science,” he said.

Smith told Kennedy that when she was younger, she was treated with an SSRI medication, therapy and other options to live a happier life. She said RFK Jr.’s comments stigmatized those suffering from depression.

“And I’m very concerned that this is another example of your record of sharing false and misleading information that actually really hurts people,” Smith said.

From DFL to DNC?

Minnesota DFL Chairman Ken Martin has helped many candidates during his career in politics, but now he’s on the ballot on Saturday as the Democratic National Committee elects a new chairman.

While there are a number of Democrats vying for the job, including failed presidential candidate Marianne Williamson and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, the race is considered a two-person battle between Martin and Ben Wikler, the chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

Candidates have differed a little on nuts-and-bolts issues.

There’s been unanimity among the candidates that, after November’s devastating defeat at the ballot box, there is  an urgent need to improve the Democratic party’s brand, especially among working-class voters and the nation’s labor unions.

However,  Wikler, 43,  is known for his fundraising prowess, which likely played a part in his ability to win endorsements from big names in the Democratic Party, including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Martin, meanwhile, has been promoting his winning strategy in Minnesota, where the DFL has won every statewide election since he was elected chairman of the state party in 2011.

Martin, 51, has spent his whole life in Democratic politics, and was a senior at Eden Prairie High School when he joined Paul Wellstone’s campaign for U.S. Senate.

He says he has secured commitments from about 200 of the 448 party officials who will cast a vote Saturday at the Gaylord National Resort in Oxon Hill, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Whoever wins that election will replace outgoing DNC chairman Jaime Harrison and take over a party that’s in crisis and has no obvious leader. The party has also failed to coalesce around a strategy to address the problems that cost them electoral losses in November and has no unified strategy to stop President Trump’s agenda.

In case you missed it:

Reporter Peter Callaghan explained why gridlock continues in the state House – and now in the state Senate and when a resolution to the problems brought by GOP electoral wins in November and other unexpected occurrences could be resolved.

After U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has dropped its policy against entering schools and churches to detain immigrants, reporter Winter Keefer looked at policies the St. Paul and Minnesota school districts are adopting to protect their students.

A new, expanded travel ban is in the works thanks to one of the many executive orders President Trump signed this past week. Similar to the “Muslim ban” that he established in his first term in office, this new travel ban will impact Minnesota’s Somali population and many foreign students who want to attend college in the state – and even some who are already attending classes.

Your questions and comments

A reader reacted to a story about migrants, both undocumented and with permission to work and live temporarily in the United States, who work on Minnesota farms and ranches, and their fates under the new Trump administration.

One reader wrote: “I’ve been wondering about the ag (agricultural) industry, and how you’d think it would have been OBVIOUS to it/them that Trump’s deportation plans would kneecap their businesses, yet there was no huge swell of (Kamala) Harris support from them. Nary a peep, as far as I could tell!”

Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at aradelat@minnpost.com.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

The post D.C. Memo: Tragic crash in D.C. and funding freeze falls apart appeared first on MinnPost.

WASHINGTON — Of all the executive orders President Trump has signed concerning immigration, there’s one that is causing the most confusion – and could severely limit the ability of people from many countries to enter the United States, even for a short visit.

That executive order has roiled immigrant communities and their advocates and refugee resettlement agencies in the state and is believed to put in peril the visas of foreign students who are attending or want to attend Minnesota colleges.

Trump has ordered the Department of Homeland Security, State Department and Director of National Intelligence to submit, in 60 days, a list of all nations that the agencies determine do not properly vet people who want to visit, live or study in the United States.

The executive order, called “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats” has been compared to the “Muslim ban” Trump implemented in his first term in office.

That ban blocked nationals from six Muslim-majority nations – including Somalia and Iran – and North Korea from entry into the United States. More than 700 travelers were detained, and up to 60,000 visas were “provisionally revoked.”

The new initiative is expected to go much farther, affecting at least 20 nations and including Gaza, Somalia, Syria and other Muslim-majority nations.

Trump’s executive order also directs the State Department and other agencies to investigate nationals from those countries who have migrated to the United States since 2021, when Trump’s last term of office ended.

“The United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles …,” the executive order says.

Foreign students could lose their visas if they are arrested or expelled. But they could soon also be vulnerable to losing their right to study in the United States if they were found to participate – or have participated in – pro-Palestinian protests or support other policies or ideologies that run afoul of the new administration.

Adam Abu, vice president of Students for Justice in Palestine, a pro-Palestinian group at the University of Minnesota, said new protests have been planned at the campus since October.

“But now it’s hard for us to recommend foreign students to come to protests when they might be deported just for protesting,” he said. “(The executive order) has set a dangerous precedent for future protests.”

Among those whom Abu does not want to invite to demonstrations on campus are three students from Gaza that have recently been invited to attend the university.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-5th District, who was born in Somalia and lived in a refugee camp before coming to the United States, said Trump’s first term Muslim Ban “tore families  apart in our district, leaving many of my constituents unable to reunite with their loved ones.”

“As someone who came here as a refugee from one of the Trump administration’s banned countries, I know how destructive this hateful policy was to people around the world seeking a better life in the United States,” Omar said. “ Somali Americans in our district, in particular, felt the brunt of this cruel policy, as parents, spouses, and children were trapped in limbo — facing indefinite separation simply because of where they were born.”

Omar said even after the first ban was lifted, many many refugee families in Minnesota were still waiting to be reunited. 

“A future ban would only deepen these wounds and reinforce xenophobia, racism and Islamophobia,” Omar said. 

‘A unified American identity’

Ana Pottratz-Acosta, a professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law who specializes in immigration law, said she “would not be shocked” if there weren’t at least 20 nations on Trump’s new ban.

But she, and others interviewed for this story, said there is no clarity on what the Trump administration will do to implement a new travel ban.

“At this point in time, it’s kind of speculative,” Pottratz-Acosta said.

Lindsey Greising, an attorney for Advocates for Human Rights, a Minneapolis-based non-profit, said the specter of a new Muslim ban has created “a rumor mill” that may discourage efforts to apply for visas to the United States.

“People still have the ability to apply for visas they are eligible for and continue to live their lives without fear,” she said.

She also said the new investigation into how foreign nations screen applicants for visas is unnecessary, since U.S. consulates in those nations “have had a strong vetting process in place for years.”

Still, the executive order is concerning, Greising said, especially since it orders federal agencies to evaluate programs “designed to ensure the proper assimilation of lawful immigrants into the United States, and recommend any additional measures to be taken that promote a unified American identity and attachment to the Constitution, laws, and founding principles of the United States.”

Greising said the terms “assimilation,” and “unified American identity” are counter to the pluralistic nature of today’s American society.

“We’re very concerned about any effort to use national security pretexts to push racists or nationalistic agendas,” she said.

Door already shut on refugees

On his first day in office, Trump also signed an executive order halting refugee admissions into the United States for at least 90 days to give the State Department time to investigate how well they are vetted.

That order also ended all federal grants to refugee resettlement organizations, which are dominated by religious organizations, like Lutheran Social Services, which has offices in St. Cloud and Minneapolis.

Since October, Lutheran Social Services has helped resettle 387 refugees from several nations, including Somalia, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

Alexis Oberdorfer of Lutheran Social Services said these refugees “have arrived with little more than the clothes they are wearing and will need financial help to pay for rent, food, medical expenses and other basic needs.”

While the organization receives private donations, most of its funding came from the federal government before Trump ended those payments. The federal government, for instance, paid for three months of each refugee’s basic living expenses.

“With federal funds frozen for these vital expenses, we are cobbling together private funds to help newly arrived refugees with their immediate needs.” Oberdorfer said.

And the door has now been shut on many refugees who have lived in camps for years and had been recently given permission to be reunited with family members in Minnesota, Oberdorfer said.

According to the State Department, there were 1,018 refugee arrivals in Minnesota from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 of last year. More than half, or 525 came from Somalia. The next largest group came from Afghanistan (97), and Ethiopia (90).

Trump’s new version of his Muslim ban is likely to make immigration from Somalia and many troubled countries very difficult, if not impossible.

According to the State Department, in 2016, 9,000 Somalis settled in the United States. That number dropped to 980 in 2017, when Trump first entered the White House and to 149 in 2020, the last year of Trump’s first term.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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WASHINGTON – The Trump administration’s freeze on federal grants and aid to states, local governments and nonprofits will likely touch the lives of many Minnesotans as money for hundreds of programs – from road construction to  Meals on Wheels – has stopped or been rescinded.

It also threatens to upend attempts by state and local governments to implement planned budgets, as money they had counted on receiving from Washington, D.C., has suddenly disappeared.

“Minnesota will do what we can to keep the lights on, but we cannot fill the nearly $2 billion hole this will put in the state’s budget each month,” Gov. Tim Walz said. “This isn’t conservatism. This is amateur-hour cruelty.”

Minnesota on Tuesday joined 22 other Democratic states in immediately filing a lawsuit to stop the federal freeze, saying it was an unconstitutional violation of the Administrative Procedures Act, a federal law that governs how federal agencies create and enforce rules. And later Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the funding pause.

The freeze started in a two-page memo from the Office of Management and Budget saying a review of $3 trillion in federal spending was needed to bring a vast number of programs in line with President Trump’s priorities, citing a number of executive orders on immigration, diversity, equity and inclusion policies (DEI) and foreign aid.

The memo did not say how long this review would take or how long the freeze would last. It stops work on many state and local transportation projects and puts a halt to a slew of government programs, including food stamps, heating assistance, Head Start, policing grants and funding to the state’s tribal governments.

Medicaid funding, which represents the largest pot of money the state receives from the federal government, is also considered vulnerable. 

At a Tuesday afternoon press conference at the St. Paul Eastside YMCA’s child care center, Minnesota Commissioner of Management and Budget Erin Campbell said her office tried to draw down more than $400 million from the state’s federal Medicaid account and was unable to do so Tuesday morning. But Campbell said her agency was able to access the funds later in the day. Other states also reported trouble drawing down Medicaid funding on Tuesday. The larges portion of Walz’s $2 billion monthly figure is Medicaid, but also included is about $850 million for other federal programs.

The lawsuit Minnesota joined against the Trump administration also alleges the OMB has violated the separation of powers doctrine and Congress’ authority over the federal budget. Filed in federal court in California, the lawsuit seeks an immediate temporary court injunction on the funding freeze.

“And it’s putting vulnerable people at risk,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said at the press conference at the YMCA. “Messing around with federal funding is a very big deal.”

“I do not sit around looking for ways to sue Donald Trump,” Ellison added. “But in the eight days he’s been in office he’s forced me to figure out ways to sue him almost every day.”

Walz said he had not received any kind of guidance from OMB on how the freeze would impact the state and called it an “illegal power grab.” He also said it would be difficult to “backfill” with state funding all of the programs that will lose federal funds. 

The governor said if Medicaid was included in the freeze, the state would lose $1.9 billion a month, and more than $800 million a month if Medicaid funding was continued.

Democratic Sen. Tina Smith said reports of the freeze had an immediate effect.

“I’ve heard from community health centers in Minnesota who are already looking at layoffs by the end of the day.  May not be able to make payroll at the end of the week,” Smith posted on Bluesky. “Republicans need to grow a spine here. This isn’t a game, it’s people’s lives.”

Smith added in an emailed statement that “the impact of this funding freeze is so massive it’s impossible to comprehend.”

“We are talking about programs that really, really matter to people. Programs that are life or death for Minnesotans. Anyone who relies on LIHEAP to heat their homes in the winter, or anyone who gets dialysis through Medicaid — this puts their lives and well-being at risk. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Smith said.

In a post on X, Rep. Angie Craig said she had heard from two cities in  her district that  they had been notified their Justice Department grants to local law enforcement agencies had been put on hold.

“Withholding critical funding approved by Congress to hire police officers makes #MN2 communities less safe,” Craig said. 

Republicans on Tuesday defended Trump’s actions and said “worthy” projects would be spared cuts or elimination.

“We are 36 trillion dollars in debt, largely because of wasteful spending in Washington on things we don’t want and can’t afford,” said Rep. Pete Stauber, R- 8^th District, in a post on X. “Rest assured, this pause on federal funding will be lifted on worthy projects, many of which I fought for in the Northland. This is good governance and what the American people voted for!”

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6^th District, who like most House Republicans is attending a retreat at Trump’s south Florida Doral Golf Club, told reporters the president was “doing exactly what he was elected to do,” and that was to  “shake up the status quo.”

But Democrats angrily denounced Trump’s move to impound federal funds.

“This unprecedented and unconstitutional move is causing chaos and jeopardizing critical support for everything from pediatric cancer research to equipment for our first responders,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in a statement.

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4^th District, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, said the phones in her Capitol Hill and St. Paul offices were “ringing off the hook” with calls from hospital administrators, community health centers, nonprofits, and “Minnesotans who are scared that they will not have the federal assistance they rely on.”

The uncertainty prompted by the unexpected federal action led Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, to say “this extreme executive order throws our existing and future budgets into jeopardy.”

“The short-term effect throws states, communities, schools, hospitals and households into uncertainty and fear,” Murphy added in her statement. “Long term, if cuts of even a fraction of this magnitude were implemented, the costs to individuals and families would be devastating.”

Meanwhile, state Senate Finance Committee co-chair Eric Pratt, R-Prior Lake, downplayed the impact of the OMB’s action.

“I expect we will get more clarity and guidance to help the state fulfill the request on today’s memo. We also need to be sure that vital programs are uninterrupted, and this should be a fairly easy task to meet within the timeline given,” Pratt said in a statement. It’s unclear what timeline he was referring to.

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WASHINGTON — Saying fewer and fewer native-born Americans want to work for them, Minnesota’s farmers, dairymen and ranchers are increasingly reliant on a foreign-born workforce that is under threat in the new Trump administration.

Minnesota’s robust agriculture industry employs both undocumented migrants and foreign-born workers who are in the United States on a provisional or temporary basis. The largest group of immigrant farmworkers are undocumented. The Center for Migration Studies estimates that 86% of agricultural workers are foreign born and 45% of them are undocumented.

Other Minnesota farmers have found legal ways to hire foreign-born workers who are eager to take jobs Americans have turned down.

Doug Diekmann, owner of Diekmann Farms in Beardsley, Minnesota, needed help to raise hogs and grain but did not want to break the law by hiring undocumented workers. So for the past eight years he’s used the federal H-2A program to hire three foreign-born workers – usually Mexicans – for eight or nine months out of the year.

The H-2A program allows foreign workers to legally work for less than a year on a farm or ranch. That worker can enter into new contracts at other agricultural entities for up to three years.

Some migrate from state to state to honor contracts. Farmers who apply for these workers must post their jobs in a way that Americans have priority in filling them. Only if the jobs still go begging, can the farmer hire an H-2A visa holder.

That farmer must also agree to provide certain benefits and worker protections that elude undocumented farm workers. He or she must agree to provide housing and transportation for an H-2A visa holder, as well as pay the prevailing wage set by the federal government. At Diekmann Farms, that wage is $18.15 an hour.

The prevalence of these undocumented workers often leads to abuse. For instance, last year  a dairy operation that had dozens of farms in central Minnesota was accused of wage theft and of charging their mostly undocumented workers to live in garages, barns and other buildings unfit for human habitation. 

Diekmann’s workers live in three apartments he owns in a nearby town and he must provide them with a vehicle, or pick them up himself, to go to work. He also pays their airfare every year to travel from Mexico to Fargo or Minneapolis.

“It’s not cheap by any means to hire these people,” Diekmann said.

But he said the cost is worth it because “they have more of a desire to work” than Americans he’s tried to employ and they appreciate the opportunity to work on his farm, which sells about 30,000 hogs every year.

The politics of immigration 

There were about 3,500 H-2A visa holders working on Minnesota farms last year and about 380,000 employed in agriculture across the United States.

While farmers say they are needed and major agriculture organizations, including the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Milk Producers Association, have been lobbying for an expansion of the H-2A program for years, there are concerns about the anti-immigrant politics espoused by President Donald Trump and his political supporters.

Those politics played out on X last month in a very public feud over a similar foreign-worker program, the H-1B visas that are given to highly educated workers who come to the United States to work in technological and scientific fields.

Elon Musk’s employment of these H-1B workers at Tesla was bashed by right-wing activist Laura Loomer and former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon for what they said was an attempt to hire foreigners at lower pay at the expense of Americans who need high-tech jobs.

“H1B Visa Program Should be Zeroed-Out – Used to Constantly Drive Wages Down and Replace American Tech Workers – the Foreign Worker Replacements are Treated Like Indentured Servants …” Bannon wrote in one post.

Diekmann said he’s not concerned the H-2A program would come under fire.

“Americans would not be able to buy food and there would be a lot of farms that would not exist,” if the program were eliminated, Diekmann said. 

John Walt Boatright, chief lobbyist for the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the H-2A program has tripled or quadrupled in size over the past decade.

“Our members are saying that they are not seeing much interest in Americans doing (agricultural) work anymore,” he said.

Yet Boatright said the H-2A program “has its limitations” because “it’s seasonal and temporary by nature.” That means it’s not a good fit for certain agriculture sectors, such as the nation’s dairy industry, that need a year-round work force.

He also said the program is “quite cumbersome” because several federal agencies are involved, including the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Labor Department, and farmers often have to engage farm labor contractors or immigration attorneys to procure the laborers they need.

He said he’s hopeful a new Congress will finally move on H-2A reforms and  said the farm bureau had also spoken to the Trump transition team about the importance of the program.

Meanwhile, Paul Bleiberg, executive vice president of the National Milk Producers Association, said he hoped Congress would  change the H-2A visa program so its holders could work year-round. But he acknowledged the hurdles that attempts to expand a foreign worker program would face.

“The politics around immigration are very challenging,” he said.

Loan Huynh, the chair of the immigration department at the Fredrikson & Byron law firm in Minneapolis, said, under the H-2A program, farmers need to post their jobs at least 75 days before they need a migrant to begin work and a state inspection of the housing provided that worker – a requirement before a visa is granted – must also be completed and could take up to 180 days to schedule. 

She said her firm provides farmers with hundreds of these migrant workers a year, mostly from Mexico.

“As our population grows, we need more workers and our farmers and agricultural workers are finding it harder to find these workers,” Huynh said. “U.S. workers don’t want to do this work.”

Still, Trump and many of his supporters insist that foreign-born workers are taking jobs from Americans who need them. And that might not bode well for the H-2A program, even as American farmers are growing increasingly dependent on it, Huynh said.   

“We are really concerned about an administration that has made it clear that immigration is something they want to decrease rather than increase,” she said.

Anxious about deportations 

The migrant worker program in the United States began with an agreement with Mexico in 1942 that imported Mexican farm and railroad workers into the United States to fill labor shortages during World War II. This “Bracero” program, named after the heavy use of a worker’s arms in manual labor, brought 5 million migrants to the nation before it ended in 1962.

Mary Garcia, the foreign labor supervisor at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, is tasked with overseeing the modern version of the Bracero program in the state. She makes sure farm jobs are posted statewide and that the H-2A workers have adequate housing and are aware of state programs that could help them. She said she often runs into undocumented workers during her rounds who are anxious about Trump’s vow to carry out massive deportations.  

Some want to apply for  H-2A visas. But Garcia said they cannot because they are undocumented and to qualify a worker must live outside the United States.

“It really puts us in a bind because we want to help everyone,” she said.

There are other programs that farmers use to legally secure immigrant labor. But those are also threatened by Trump’s vows of a crackdown on undocumented immigrants, and some who are here legally as well.

On his first day in office, Trump  issued an executive order ending a “humanitarian parole” program that allowed more than half a million migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to live in the United States temporarily and, in many cases, apply for a work permit. Some of these migrants found jobs on  Minnesota farms.

Another source of foreign-born labor has is the Temporary Protection Status (TPS) program that was created by Congress in 1990 to give nationals of certain countries that are confronting war, environmental disasters or other extraordinary conditions refuge in the United States for a limited time, with the opportunity to renew their applications until the president thinks this protection from deportation is not needed.

According to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS), there were 4,551 immigrants with TPS protections in Minnesota last year.

Somalis, Nicaraguans, Haitians, Venezuelans, Afghans, Salvadorans, Sudanese, Ukrainians and other nationals are eligible for this status. But Trump has the authority to decline to renew these programs.

The programs are administered nation-by-nation and have different deadlines for renewal. Those with the most immediate deadlines were  Salvadorans, whose TPS program was scheduled to end on March 10 and  Ukrainians and Sudanese whose deadline was April 20.

One of Joe Biden’s last acts as president was to renew the deadline for these TPS recipients for another 18 months.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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WASHINGTON — The first Trump administration threatened to take federal money, mainly policing funds from states, counties and cities that they deemed “sanctuaries” for undocumented immigrants.

President Trump wants to do that again, but his new administration has upped the ante. Officials at the Justice Department this week have told federal prosecutors across the nation to investigate any official who defies efforts to deport undocumented aliens. The U.S. attorneys were ordered to prosecute those officials on charges that could send them to prison.

The Washington Post first reported that the Justice Department has issued a memo referencing a “newly established Sanctuary Cities Enforcement Working Group,” which will work within the Justice Department to “take legal action” against state and local policies that clash with the administration’s immigration enforcement goal.

At the center of the dispute is how state and local officials respond to requests from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold detained immigrants so federal agents could pick them up for deportation. The requests to keep these immigrants incarcerated are known as “detainers.”

Some jurisdictions refuse to comply with detainers because they say civil immigration enforcement is the role of the federal government, not state and local law authorities.

ICE considers Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin and Ramsey counties as “sanctuary counties” because they decline to hold non-citizens on ICE detainers. But a key Trump adviser has expanded the definition of sanctuary counties in the state to include 12 Minnesota counties.

America First Legal, a conservative organization founded Stephen Miller,  who is now White House chief of staff, sent warning letters to 249 elected officials across the country in December, including those in Anoka, Cottonwood, Dakota, Hennepin, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lincoln, Lyon, Nobles, Pipestone, Ramsey and Wantowan counties. The letters warned the officials they could face prosecution if they failed to detain immigrants for ICE.

“We have identified your jurisdiction as a sanctuary jurisdiction that is violating federal law,” the letter said. “Such lawlessness subjects you and your subordinates to significant risk of criminal and civil liability. Accordingly, we are sending this letter to put you on notice of this risk and insist that you comply with our nation’s laws.”

Minnesota’s Department of Public Safety declined to answer questions about the state’s detainer policy.

But Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Thursday joined his blue-state counterparts in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont in sending a joint statement blasting the memo that threatened local officials.

“It is well-established — through longstanding Supreme Court precedent — that the U.S. Constitution prevents the federal government from commandeering states to enforce federal laws,” the attorneys general wrote. “While the federal government may use its own resources for federal immigration enforcement, the court ruled in Printz v. United States that the federal government cannot ‘impress into its service — and at no cost to itself — the police officers of the 50 States.’”

The statement also said “this balance of power between the federal government and state governments is a touchstone of our American system of federalism.”

During Trump’s first administration, the Justice Department sought to withhold federal funding from jurisdictions deemed as sanctuaries to pressure them to abandon their policies. But – after a string of lawsuits – just a few federal grants were conditioned on cooperation with ICE.

Trump again tried to withhold money from “sanctuary” jurisdictions this week through an executive order he signed on Tuesday. A federal judge in San Francisco promptly blocked the order nationwide, arguing it unlawfully withheld federal funds from cities and counties.

Trump unleashed a torrent of other executive orders this week aimed at curbing immigration and speeding the deportation of undocumented immigrants. One would end the constitutional guarantee that all children born in this country have the right to U.S. citizenship by barring the children of undocumented immigrants from that status. That executive order has also been blocked temporarily by a federal judge.

Hegseth confirmation likely 

It looks like controversial Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth is on the verge of confirmation.

The Senate on Thursday advanced Hegseth’s nomination on a 51-49 vote, despite an affidavit this week from the candidate’s former sister-in-law that alleged he was emotionally abusive to his ex-wife, at one time causing her to hide in a closet for her safety, and had a history of drunken and aggressive behavior.

Two Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, joined all Democrats in voting against the nomination on the procedural vote that allows Hegseth’s confirmation vote to occur as early as Friday. But there would have to be an additional two GOP defections to block the nominee and that’s not likely.

Hegseth, a Minnesota native, admitted during his confirmation hearing that he was “not a perfect person” but he vigorously denied the allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2017 or that he mismanaged the finances of two veterans’ groups he ran before joining Fox News in 2014.

But the nominee has admitted to having adulterous affairs.

That seemed to concern Murkowski, who said in a lengthy post that “while the allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking do nothing to quiet my concerns, the past behaviors Mr. Hegseth has admitted to, including infidelity on multiple occasions, demonstrate a lack of judgment that is unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces.”

“The leader of the Department of Defense must demonstrate and model the standards of behavior and character we expect of all servicemembers, and Mr. Hegseth’s nomination to the role poses significant concerns that I cannot overlook. … I regret that I am unable to support Mr. Hegseth,” Murkowski wrote.

The affidavit by former sister-in-law Danielle Hegseth, who was married to the nominee’s brother, said “I believe Hegseth to be an erratic, volatile person with an alcohol abuse problem.”

She also said Hegseth’s former wife, Samantha, at times feared for her safety and had a code word if she needed help to get away from her husband. The affidavit was requested by the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island.

Hegseth’s attorney, Tim Parlatore said Hegseth denies the new allegations and that they are a product of a vindictive former sister-in-law who divorced his brother.

In case you missed it:

• A new president and a new Congress gives a boost to Rep. Pete Stauber’s efforts to help usher in cobalt and nickel mining in the Iron Range.
• Peter Callaghan explains how the DFL committed “unforced errors” that cost the party its majorities in the state legislature.
• Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and the city’s police department are pushing back on Trump administration threats to a new consent decree aimed at reforming the Minneapolis police after the killing of George Floyd.

Your questions and comments

A reader commented on the decision to move Donald Trump’s inauguration to inside the U.S. Capitol due to frigid temperatures. That vastly limited those who could attend the swearing in.

“Moved inside?!?! A lot of people will stay home rather than stand out in the cold looking at the front of the Capitol building. How will DJT be able to brag about his inauguration crowd size?,” the reader wrote.

Another reader doubted Minnesotans would have special interest in Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth just because he was born and raised in the state.

“Humans without virtue, character or other redeeming quality have been raised in every jurisdiction, even in the Twin Cities. Mr. Hegseth (like every other Trump nominee and, obviously, Trump himself) would be laughed out of the hearing room in any decent society that takes seriously the stewardship of human civilization. Please don’t believe that we all have an interest in him just because he is a native son,” the reader wrote.

Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at aradelat@minnpost.com.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

The post D.C. Memo: Trump Justice Department threatens to prosecute ‘sanctuary’ jurisdiction officials in Minnesota appeared first on MinnPost.

WASHINGTON – Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey pushed back Thursday on Trump administration plans to review a newly negotiated police-reform agreement with the city.

“Regardless of the Trump administration’s announcement, we will be moving forward with the terms outlined in the consent decree,” the mayor said in a statement. “Our city worked hard on this agreement, we are prepared to implement the reforms and we are going to get this done.”

The consent decree between the city and the Justice Department aims to curb excessive force and racial discrimination in the Minneapolis Police Department and is a reaction to the police killing of George Floyd more than four years ago.

But Kathleen Wolfe, President Trump’s new supervisor of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, which negotiated the agreement when President Biden was still in office, issued a memo that puts the implementation of that consent decree in question.

The memo – first reported by the Washington Post— says that the civil rights division must notify the Justice Department’s chief of staff of any consent decrees the division has finalized within the last 90 days.

That would include the one regarding the Minneapolis Police Department, which was finalized and approved by the City Council earlier this month, as well as similar agreements the Justice Department has negotiated with Louisville and Memphis, which also could be in jeopardy.

Minneapolis’ consent decree is now before U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in Minnesota for final approval. Magnuson was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan.

It’s unclear if Magnuson can or would reject the agreement, which took years in the making. The Minneapolis police department on Thursday joined Frey in their defiance of the Justice Department’s plans to review the deal.

“We’re moving forward,” said Sgt. Garrett Parten, a spokesman for the department. 

The city added in a statement that the reforms would happen “with or without the federal government.”

The consent decree would usher in new policies regarding the use of force and how Minneapolis police officers interact with members of the community. It would also expand a behavioral crisis response team that would handle emergencies in which a police officer is not necessary.

And millions of dollars would be spent on the reform efforts and on new staff and technology to carry out the agreement’s requirements.

In a separate action, the Justice Department has issued a freeze on new civil rights investigations and litigation. It’s unclear how long this freeze will last.

MinnPost reporter Winter Keefer contributed to this story. 

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WASHINGTON — The new Congress and Donald Trump’s return to the White House has created new opportunities for Rep. Pete Stauber when it comes to his efforts to promote copper and nickel mining on the Iron Range.

As the chairman of the panel that has jurisdiction over mining issues in the House Natural Resources Committee, Stauber, R-8^th District, is well positioned to push mining-related legislation.

“I’m excited about the work ahead,” he said.

Stauber was also chairman of that key panel in the last Congress and was able to get several mining-related bills approved in the U.S. House. But the legislation stalled in the U.S. Senate because the chamber was controlled by Democrats who ignored Stauber’s bills.  

After November’s elections, control of the Senate shifted to the GOP, which could help Stauber’s efforts, and he has an ally in Trump, who said he supports efforts to expand mining on the Iron Range.

On Monday, one of the many executive orders Trump signed directed the Interior and Agriculture Departments to “reassess any public lands withdrawals for potential revision.” That could affect a moratorium the Biden Administration placed on sulfide ore mining on 225,504 acres of federal land and waters within the Superior National Forest.

Stauber said he plans to reintroduce his marquee bill, the Superior National Forest Restoration Act, this week. But even on a more favorable political playing field, the lawmaker still faces hurdles.

Stauber’s wide-ranging bill would reverse the Biden administration’s 20-year ban on copper and nickel mining in Superior National Forest and reissue key federal mineral leases to Twin Metals, a mining concern that has for decades tried to establish an underground copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum mine about nine miles southeast of Ely.

Stauber’s legislation would limit environmental and regulatory review of mine plans of operations within the Superior National Forest to 18 months and block judicial review of reissued leases or permits.

Environmentalists who oppose the expansion of mining also have their allies in Congress.

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4th District, plans to introduce a bill Tuesday that would permanently establish the moratorium in Superior National Forest. Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-5th District, and Kelly Morrison, D-3rd District, are among the 17 Democratic co-sponsors of the bill. 

McCollum’s legislation, called the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act, would not restrict taconite or iron-ore mining anywhere else in Minnesota. But the legislation faces strong political headwinds in the GOP-controlled House and Senate. 

Currently, the revocation of two Twin Metals leases are under consideration by a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.

The leases were renewed by the previous Trump administration and canceled in January 2022 under the Biden administration. A coalition of environmental groups, including Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness and the Wilderness Society, joined the Biden Interior Department in seeking to uphold the cancellation of those leases.

Some of the things Stauber’s legislation aims to accomplish can be done by Trump with a stroke of a pen. He campaigned on reversing the 20-year moratorium on mining in the Superior National Forest and there is speculation he will also try to reinstate Twin Metals’ leases.

Ingrid Lyons, executive director of Save the Boundary Waters, one of the environmental groups battling mining companies on the Iron Range, said Trump’s inauguration “kicks off the countdown to an all-but-certain and unprecedented revocation of Biden’s historic mining ban in the Boundary Waters watershed.”

“The robust record of science, law, public opinion, and economics is clear — copper mining does not belong on the doorstep of America’s most iconic landscapes,” Lyons said in a statement.

Those who oppose the introduction of copper and nickel mining in Minnesota say copper, nickel and other ores are in rock that contain sulfides, and when exposed to air and water those sulfides could generate acids that leach toxic metals into the water that feeds into the Boundary Waters.

Meanwhile, Twin Metals and other mining companies that have proposed projects in the state say they have the technology to protect the watershed.

Senate could be a challenge

Stauber said “he doesn’t want to get in front of President Trump’s executive orders” that could affect Twin Metals, but wants to move forward with his legislation anyway.

Stauber is also confident that another bill that would impact mining in Minnesota that passed the House but not the Senate last year will also be considered this year. That bill would streamline the federal permitting process and limit federal environmental review of proposed mining operations.  

Stauber said that holding a Senate vote on the legislation could put Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, both Democrats, on the spot. “Our two Minnesota senators will get a chance to vote on these mining bills,” he said.

Even with a GOP-majority Senate, Stauber would need the support of at least seven Democratic senators to reach the goal of 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

Yet Smith opposes the legislation, a spokeswoman for the senator said. Klobuchar’s office did not have an immediate response.

“We don’t think he has the support in the Senate to withstand a filibuster,” said Becky Rom, chair of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters.

A key Stauber ally, Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, told reporters last week that legislation that would clear the path for the Twin Metal project in Minnesota — as well as a copper mine in Arizona and another project in Alaska — could be attached to a budget reconciliation bill that, under Senate rules, is not subject to a filibuster.

Westerman said the Twin Metals project has been a “political ping pong ball” and that it’s up to Congress “to step up and say, ‘Quit the political ping pong and build the mine.’”

But Senate rules for a reconciliation bill says all items in the legislation should have budgetary impact, that is they must either cost or raise money, and it may be difficult for the proposed mining legislation to meet that requirement.  

In any case, Twin Metals says it’s grateful for its support on Capitol Hill.

“Twin Metals Minnesota appreciates the champions in Congress that recognize the significance of the domestic mineral resources that are available in northeast Minnesota, which are urgently needed to accomplish our nation’s energy transition, job creation and national security goals,” the company said in a statement.

While environmentalists are lobbying lawmakers and taking mining companies to court to stop the development of copper and nickel  production in Minnesota, there are those who want the expansion of an industry that is now largely limited to mining taconite, a sedimentary rock containing low-grade iron ore.

Virginia, Minn.-based Iron Range Engineering — a joint project of the Minnesota State system, Minnesota State University, Mankato, and Minnesota North College — teaches engineering to students who are employed by the mining industry. Its director, Ron Ulseth, said he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the political change wrought by November’s election.

“From my point of view, I’m excited for the opportunity for mining expansion,” he said. “We have something to offer the mining companies and look forward to serving them.”

But Ulseth is also skeptical that the new Trump administration can remove all obstacles, which include the requirement the state sign off on the new proposed operations, too.

“Why didn’t it happen between 2016 and 2020?” he asked, referring to the first time Trump was in the White House.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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WASHINGTON — In his second inaugural address, President Donald Trump painted a dark picture of an America in decline and vowed to be the nation’s savior, starting with a torrent of executive orders he will sign on his first day to jumpstart an ambitious agenda.

“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump said shortly after he and Vice President JD Vance took their oaths in the Capitol Rotunda.

With the stroke of a pen, Trump said he will pause all offshore wind leases, abolish the electric vehicle mandate, withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accord and end all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal government.

But the most sweeping and immediate actions will focus on the U.S.-Mexico border. An incoming White House official said at least 10 executive actions regarding immigration would be signed today, with more following.

Trump said he would declare a national emergency on the southern border, which will allow him to send resources and the military to the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Trump also said he would  end what he derisively calls a “catch and release policy,” under which immigrants seeking asylum or other ways to remain legally in the United States would not be allowed to stay in this country while their claims were adjudicated.

The president also said he will  designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, raising the question of whether U.S. troops would be deployed in Mexico. A White House official said that has not been determined but could be at the discretion of the new defense secretary, which would be Pete Hegseth if he is confirmed to that position. 

Although he did not mention these proposals in his speech, the White House official said Trump also plans to pause refugee resettlement programs for at least four months and end asylum claims and birthright citizenship, which grants all who were born in the United States, including the children of undocumented immigrants, U.S. citizenship.

Ending birthright citizenship and other proposals, including the establishment of new federal security task forces to work with state and local law enforcement officials to carry out deportations, are expected to be challenged in court as violations of the U.S. Constitution.

In his inaugural speech, with Biden only a few yards away, Trump cast himself as a savior that would “reverse a horrible betrayal and all these many betrayals that have taken place and give people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom.”

“From this moment on, America’s decline is over,” Trump said.

He also invoked a phrase used historically to justify the expansion of the United States, saying he planned to plant an American flag on Mars and “take back” the Panama Canal, incorrectly saying China controlled the passageway and that U.S. ships were subject to unfair fees to cross it.

But he left his more incendiary comments for a speech to supporters in the U.S. Capitol who could not enter the rotunda because of space limitation.

Trump told those supporters he would sign an executive order on his first day back at the White House that would pardon those serving sentences for their roles in the January 6 rioting at the Capitol.

He repeated false claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and said there were Democratic attempts to steal last year’s election too, but his margin of victory was “just too big” for them to be able to do so. 

Activities moved indoors

Trump’s swearing in and other inauguration ceremonies were  moved indoors because of concerns over chilly weather. Trump was sworn in in the Capitol Rotunda and his supporters gathered in the Capital One Arena that usually hosts professional hockey and basketball games to watch inauguration ceremonies on big screens.

The inaugural parade that usually winds down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House was also moved to the sports arena.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who as a senior member of the Senate Rules Committee is now the highest-ranking member of the panel and the chair of the Joint Inaugural Committee, had a high-profile role on Monday.

After Friday’s decision to move the inaugural activities indoors, Klobuchar scrambled to help move the swearing in to the Capitol Rotunda and the parade to the Capitol Center. She rode with now-former President Joe Biden and Trump to the Capitol Monday morning and addressed the crowd of lawmakers, former presidents and celebrities in the rotunda before the  swearing in.

“Our great American experiment, grounded in the rule of law, has endured. So as we inaugurate a new president, let us remember that the power of those in this room comes from the people,” Klobuchar said.

She also said the peaceful transfer of power on Monday is “a further reminder that we should uphold our values as enshrined in the Constitution.” 

In another nod to Klobuchar, and to her Republican counterpart, Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, the congressional lunch that traditionally follows the  swearing in ceremony featured Omaha Angus Ribeye steak and Minnesota Apple Ice Box Terrine for dessert.

Klobuchar was also seated next to Trump at the table of honor during the congressional lunch, with Vance sitting on her other side. 

After the inaugural activities were moved indoors, Minnesota’s lawmakers advised constituents they could still drop by the lawmakers’ Capitol Hill offices to pick up their tickets to the inauguration, but they were now merely “commemorative.”

“While I am sure Minnesotans would have braved the cold to watch President Trump’s inauguration, unfortunately the Inaugural Committee will no longer hold the inauguration outdoors and constituents who had secured tickets will no longer be granted access to the ceremony,” Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6^th District, posted on X. 

Emmer and fellow Minnesota Republican Reps. Brad Finstad, Pete Stauber and Michelle Fischbach all attended the inauguration, as did Democratic Sen. Tina Smith and Democratic Reps. Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig. But two Democrats – Reps. Ilhan Omar and Betty McCollum — preferred to instead attend events honoring Martin Luther King Jr. in Minnesota. 

In a video posted on X, Fischbach cheered Trump’s vow to end “wokeness” in society, politics and the workplace. “For too long, Democrats have been pushing a woke agenda that frankly benefits criminals more than American citizens,” Fischbach said.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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WASHINGTON — Monday’s 60^th inauguration of a U.S. president, which will again be Donald Trump, will be a day of pomp and circumstance with plenty of tradition — but also some new twists.

And although there will be Minnesotans in the crowd that Park Police estimate will be about 250,000, as well as on the platform that has been built on the west front of the U.S. Capitol to host the swearing-in, some notable people from the state will not be attending.

They include Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4^th District, who plans to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which also falls on Monday, by instead attending activities to honor the civil rights leader in the Twin Cities.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-5^th District, will also honor MLK in her district instead of attending the inauguration in Washington.

Other Minnesota lawmakers plan to attend, however, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar will play a role in Trump’s swearing in. As chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Activities, the Democrat will make brief remarks before Trump places his hand on a Bible and takes his oath to serve the United States.

Like McCollum and Omar, former First Lady Michelle Obama has said she’s going to skip Trump’s inauguration. But former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are expected to attend.

The swearing in and other inaugural activities will occur outside on what is expected to be one of the coldest days this year in Washington — a chill that will test the fortitude of those who undergo unprecedented security measures and wait for hours for the ceremony to commence.

A cold inauguration day — and it was held in March, not January — was said to have claimed the life of the ninth U.S. president, William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia about three weeks after he gave his inaugural address in frigid weather without the protection of a hat or coat.  

Despite Harrison’s death, inauguration day was moved to an even colder month, January, in 1933 to shorten the period a “lame duck” president served if he did not win reelection the previous November.

Rep. Pete Stauber, R-8^th District, who has invited a group of family and friends to attend the inaugural, shrugged off reports of frigid weather, saying it would have little effect on his guests from Minnesota.

“It will be just another Monday,” Stauber said as far as the expected deep freeze.

Over the years, a basic pattern of activities has been established. Around noon, the president is sworn in on a platform at the U.S. Capitol by the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court — in this case, Justice John Roberts. After taking the brief, 35-word oath of office, the new president gives an inaugural address, then hosts a lunch for congressional leaders in the U.S. Capitol.

Trump has also said he’s going to buckle down to work after that lunch, pledging to sign a flurry of executive orders on issues ranging from border security to gas and oil production on his first day as president.

These executive orders, many of which are expected to be challenged in federal courts, will overshadow the festivities, which will feature a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House and an evening of gala festivities.

Yet the inaugural activities begin several days before Trump is sworn in, and he has put his imprimatur on them.

Inaugural events will kick off Saturday with a celebration that includes fireworks and a reception at Trump National Golf Club, the president-elect’s golf club in northern Virginia.

On Sunday, Trump plans to visit the Arlington National Cemetery, where he generated flak this summer by filming a campaign commercial among the graves. This time, Trump plans to place a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

He also plans a rally in the downtown arena that is best known for hosting the Washington Capitals hockey games, which Trump has dubbed the “Make America Great Again Victory Rally.”

And in the evening, Trump plans to make a speech at a “candlelight dinner,” a black tie affair at the National Building Museum where donors and lobbyists will be able to have access to the president-elect if they pay at least $250,000 to the inaugural committee or a Trump-aligned political action committee.

There will be at least 15 unofficial balls over the weekend and Monday evening. They range from the long-running Texas State Society’s Black Tie & Boots ball to a new one called the Crypto Ball. Minnesotans usually celebrate at a ball sponsored by several Midwestern states, but Stauber said that could not be arranged this year.

Trump has committed to attending only three official balls: the Commander in Chief Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball — which Stauber and other lawmakers plan to attend — and the Starlight Ball. All of the official balls will be held Monday evening and Trump is expected to make remarks at each.

New jobs, and reappointments to old ones

This week several Minnesota lawmakers received new jobs in Congress.

Freshman Rep. Kelly Morrison, D-3^rd District, was assigned to seats on the House Small Business Committee and the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Morrison’s husband John is a veteran.

Also this week, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6^th District, a cryptocurrency enthusiast, was appointed vice chair of the House Financial Services’ Digital Assets Subcommittee. Emmer has frequently criticized federal agencies for their perceived hostility toward crypto and has been a constant critic of Securities and Exchange Commissioner Gary Gensler, whom the lawmaker has accused of regulatory overreach.

Meanwhile, Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4^th District, continues as the top Democrat on the House Appropriations panel that determines the Pentagon’s budget.

And Rep. Pete Stauber, R-8^th District, has been reappointed head of the House Natural Resources Committee with jurisdiction over energy and mineral resources.

ICYMI:

• Pete Hegseth was in the hot seat for more than four hours this week as the Senate Armed Services Committee considered his nomination for secretary of defense and emerged largely unscathed. Few policy questions were asked of the nominee, who drew fire from Democrats for his inexperience, an allegation of sexual assault and reports he mismanaged funds at two veterans groups he once headed. But Republicans on the panel lauded the nominee, who grew up in Forest Lake, Minnesota, and defended him against the reports of misconduct — and Hegseth’s own controversial writings.
• Minnesota’s state House was in turmoil this week, and Peter Callaghan explained why there’s an unprecedented battle over control of the chamber.
• Winter Keefer wrote about the efforts to turn empty commercial buildings into residential units, focusing on the New Groove Lofts at Northstar Center in downtown Minneapolis, a project that has set aside 44 apartments for tenants earning less than half of the median wage.

Your questions and comments

A reader weighed in on the nomination of Minnesotan Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense. He had some concerns.

“Hegseth denied heavy drinking, but claimed he will stop if confirmed. It is almost never that easy for problem drinkers,” the reader said. “It seems like among his red flags that are left out of most reports are his attempts to clear or pardon those found to have committed war crimes … In his first term, heavyweights talked Trump out of rash and illegal military actions, something Hegseth will never do.”

Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at aradelat@minnpost.com.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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