U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer. MN-CD6, has received blistering criticism from Minnesota Tea Party Alliance founders Jake Dusenberg and Jack Rogers. During their March 4th “Living Free” broadcast, the duo sharply criticized Emmer for his recent vote for a “clean” funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. The bill was supported broadly by Democrats and only 1/3 of Republicans in the House voted for it, including all three Minnesota Congressmen. In addition to the vote, Emmer was praised by Minnesota media outlets for criticizing Republicans who would not vote with the Democrats on the bill. During the 2013 government shutdown, over 85% of DHS employees continued doing their jobs, according to a Congressional Research Service report. But Democrats– and the Republicans who voted with them– asserted that the country’s safety would be put in jeopardy should there be any lapse in DHS funding.
This is the second time the Tea Party Alliance has publicly criticized Emmer since he took office in January, the first time was for his vote to support John Boehner for Speaker.
“You’ve lost you way,” Dusenberg charged, “You’re at odds with your conservative base and I wouldn’t be surprised if you had a primary challenger.”
Emmer appears to be well-positioned to be used by more moderate establishment Republicans as a whip of sorts. His reputation as a brash state legislator and local radio talk show host is still intact. But by voting against his conservative base, he demonstrates that the Tom Emmer brand of the 2010 Minnesota gubernatorial election is old news.