Lift Off
MN-06 Daily: April 1,2026
Artemis II launched. Trump addressed the nation on Iran. The Majority Whip called it “an amazing, amazing mission” and said “the regime has to go.” Oil jumped back above $100. Gas in Minnesota hit $3.51. And the state legislator Emmer brought to Washington to confirm his fraud narrative was found armed and impaired in a DWI stop — five days ago. Emmer has said nothing.
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13 tweets. 1 media appearance. 0 votes (recess). 5 mentions of Iran. 0 mentions of the DHS shutdown’s impact on non-TSA federal workers.
966 days since Rep. Emmer’s last in-person town hall — August 9, 2023 — Hamburg, MN
DHS Shutdown: Day 47. Johnson and Thune announced a two-track plan today that is structurally identical to the Senate bill Johnson called “a joke” five days ago. Both chambers remain on recess until April 13.
The Speech and the Setup
At 9 PM Eastern tonight, President Trump addressed the nation on Operation Epic Fury for the first time since the war began 33 days ago. He said the military objectives are “nearing completion,” threatened to bomb Iran’s power grid and oil infrastructure if no deal is reached within two to three weeks, and used the phrase “back to the stone ages.”
Oil immediately jumped above $100 per barrel. Gas in Minnesota hit $3.51 today — up from $2.78 a month ago, a 26% increase. The national average is $4.06.
Nine hours earlier, Rep. Emmer was on CNBC’s Squawk Box delivering the preview. He called Operation Epic Fury “an amazing, amazing mission” — twice — and cited 11,000 targets hit and 90% reduction in drone traffic. He acknowledged the deaths of 13 American service members in a single subordinate clause before returning to the word “amazing.”
Then he went further than the administration’s own stated objectives.
Host Joe Kernen asked about the Iranian regime. Emmer’s answer: “The regime, in my opinion, is just a member of Congress. The regime has to go.”
That is a regime change statement. The White House’s own fact sheet — published today — lists four objectives: destroy missiles and production capability, annihilate Iran’s navy, sever support for terrorist proxies, and prevent nuclear weapons. Regime change is not among them. Secretary Hegseth has said repeatedly that the objectives are “exactly what they were on day one.” Emmer’s stated position goes beyond what the Commander-in-Chief has authorized.
He also told Kernen there are “pro-Trump rallies all around the world by Iranians who have been excommunicated from Iran” and that “nobody wants to report that either. Why? Because Trump is doing it. That’s the only reason.”
The full transcript is attached to this edition.
The Reversal
Today, Speaker Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Thune jointly announced a “two-track” plan to end the DHS shutdown.
Track one: pass the Senate bill that funds all of DHS except ICE and Customs and Border Protection. Track two: fund ICE and CBP separately through budget reconciliation — a party-line process requiring no Democratic votes.
This is the same structural framework the Senate passed unanimously by voice vote at 2:20 AM on March 27. The same bill Johnson called “a joke” hours later. The same bill Emmer attacked on Fox Business and at a press availability Friday morning — calling it “frankly not right” and expressing “common disgust” — before the House killed it and passed a 60-day CR instead. Both chambers then left for a two-week recess.
Five days later, Republican leadership has reversed course and adopted the plan they rejected.
On this morning’s Squawk Box, Emmer offered his own version of the reversal. He proposed suspending the filibuster whenever “any part of government is not funded” — allowing Republicans to pass DHS funding and the SAVE America Act together with 51 votes. He framed this as a reform. In April 2021, he listed eliminating the filibuster as “dangerous far-left legislation.”
The proposal has a structural problem he did not address: if the filibuster is automatically suspended during any government shutdown, the party in power has an incentive to cause shutdowns — or allow them to continue — in order to pass legislation that couldn’t survive a 60-vote threshold. The mechanism he described as a solution to dysfunction is an invitation to manufacture it.
He also told Kernen the agency “has not been paid for half the fiscal year” and blamed “the Democrats’ refusal to work with Republicans.” He did not mention that Senate Republicans blocked nine separate Democratic proposals to pay TSA workers. He did not mention that his party controls both chambers. He did not mention that he declared his job done on Day 3 of the shutdown — on CBS Mornings, February 16: “We’ve done our job, Vlad.”
Meanwhile, the workers who aren’t TSA remain invisible. A CISA employee told Federal News Network today that roughly 800 CISA staff — 40% of the workforce — have been working without pay for 47 days. A FEMA employee said colleagues are “suffering and demoralized, especially after the decision to fund TSA, while FEMA and CISA employees continue to be overlooked.”
Emmer’s 13 tweets over the past two days do not mention CISA, FEMA, or any non-TSA DHS employee.
Artemis II
At 6:35 PM Eastern, NASA’s Artemis II launched from Kennedy Space Center — the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen are on a 10-day mission to loop behind the moon.
Emmer posted about it three times from his official account: one sharing NASA’s livestream link, one celebrating the launch (”WE HAVE LIFTOFF!”), and one reposting Trump’s congratulations to the crew. Trump opened his Iran address by congratulating the Artemis team.
This is a good-news story for everyone. No contradiction. Documented.
Two Accounts, One Day
From @GOPMajorityWhip today: Artemis celebrations, Passover greetings, a hockey charity recap, Operation Epic Fury statistics.
From @tomemmer today: “It’s pretty disgraceful for you to claim President Trump has done nothing to meet the needs of the American people.” This was a quote-tweet of former Vice President Kamala Harris, who had posted a video ahead of Trump’s speech.
Emmer’s personal account added: “He’s cleaning up the chaos YOU caused here in the United States and across the globe, and is making America great again. On top of that, he has the guts to confront the Iranian regime, the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world!”
From @tomemmer yesterday: “I will never forget when the Biden administration declared trans visibility day on Easter Sunday. This twisted agenda is what the left wants taking over our country: men in women’s sports, men invading women’s bathrooms, and of course, making a mockery of our faith.”
That was Easter 2024 — two years ago. March 31 has been Transgender Day of Visibility since 2009. It landed on Easter Sunday in 2024 because Easter’s date moves. Biden had issued the same proclamation every March 31 since 2021. Emmer’s tweet presents this as a deliberate act of desecration rather than a calendar coincidence. He posted it on March 31, 2026 — a Monday, the day after Easter — relitigating a two-year-old culture war grievance while the DHS shutdown entered Day 46.
What He Didn’t Mention: The Man He Brought to Washington
Walter Hudson represents Albertville. That is Wright County. That is MN-06. He is Tom Emmer’s constituent. He is also, by his own account, Tom Emmer’s protégé.
When Hudson ran for the Minnesota House in 2022, Ballotpedia asked him which legislators he most admired. His answer: “Locally, I look up to Congressman Tom Emmer and former Congressman Jason Lewis. Each stand out as great communicators who have found ways to navigate institutions effectively while championing individual liberty.”
The admiration has been operational. In April 2025, when Action 4 Liberty — the far-right group that had been trying to primary Emmer and other establishment Republicans — escalated its attacks on the state party, Hudson led the counteroffensive. He called on the Minnesota GOP to “cut out the cancer” of A4L and disqualify its affiliates from party activity. The resolution condemning A4L was brought forward by Bobby Benson — Emmer’s state chief of staff. A4L’s founder called Hudson’s moves “a pathetic move to kowtow to ‘Globalist RINO’ Tom Emmer’s people.”
At the CD6 endorsing convention, Hudson helped lead what A4L described as “an effort of censorship against Tom Emmer’s only opponent” — blocking primary challenger Chris Corey from competing for the endorsement. Hudson wasn’t just an ally. He was Emmer’s enforcer at the state level.
Then Emmer elevated him to the national stage.
On January 7, 2026, Emmer sat in the House Oversight Committee hearing room and questioned Hudson — along with Reps. Marion Rarick and Kristin Robbins — about fraud in Minnesota. The hearing was Emmer’s showcase. He opened by declaring the Star Tribune “complicit” and calling the fraud “a $9 billion heist.”
Emmer asked Hudson directly: “Do you have any doubt that Tim Walz knew about this fraud as it was occurring?”
Hudson: “None whatsoever.”
Emmer tagged Hudson on @GOPMajorityWhip that day: “MN State Rep. @WalterHudson confirms the facts: #1: 90% of the individuals charged with fraud in Minnesota are of Somali descent. #2: Keith Ellison is on tape promising to obstruct his own agencies in their investigations of Somali fraud.” The post has 51,600 views.
Hudson sits on the Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee. He is a law-and-order conservative. And after federal agents killed Alex Pretti — a Minneapolis VA nurse with a valid concealed carry permit — in January, Hudson posted a video about firearm responsibility. His words, per the Mesabi Tribune: “Every concealed carry instructor in the state will tell you the same thing: The moment you choose to carry a firearm, your responsibility goes up, not down.”
He was lecturing a dead man about responsibility.
On March 27 — five days ago — Hudson was a passenger in a Ford Ranger pulled over in White Bear Lake at 1:50 AM. The driver, Rep. Elliott Engen, was clocked at 44 in a 30 zone with a broken headlight and expired registration. Engen blew a .142 — nearly twice the legal limit. He told the officer he was “sober cabbing” his passengers. He was not sober.
Hudson was armed. He was carrying a 9mm Smith & Wesson in his waistband. Officers called for backup when they discovered the firearm. The arrest report states Hudson “appeared impaired.” A bottle of alcohol was found in a child’s car seat in the back of the vehicle. Hudson told officers it was his.
Minnesota law prohibits carrying a firearm with a blood alcohol concentration above .04. White Bear Lake Police Chief Dale Hager confirmed his officers believed Hudson was intoxicated but elected not to pursue charges because Hudson was “very cordial.” Prosecutors filed more than 375 charges statewide in 2025 for carrying a firearm while intoxicated. Hudson was not among them.
Twelve hours before the traffic stop, Hudson and Engen were photographed drinking at Burger Moe’s in St. Paul — one hour before a 3:30 PM House floor session they both attended. Both left committee hearings early that afternoon, returned to vote on legislation, and continued drinking afterward. DFL House Leader Zack Stephenson called for answers today, asking whether the lawmakers were impaired while casting votes on the House floor.
The story has been covered by the Star Tribune, the Minnesota Reformer, KSTP, KARE 11, CBS Minnesota, Fox 9, and the Mesabi Tribune. Today, the Mesabi Tribune reported that Hudson will not be charged — and noted the irony of a law-and-order conservative who lectured Alex Pretti about firearm responsibility getting caught carrying while impaired.
Tom Emmer has said nothing. Not on either account. Not in this morning’s Squawk Box interview. Not in any of the 13 tweets he posted over the past two days. The man who confirmed “the facts” for Emmer in front of the United States Congress has been in every Minnesota newsroom for five days.
The Majority Whip has not mentioned his name.
One more thing. In 2009, when Emmer was in the Minnesota House, he sponsored a bill that would have shortened the period of license revocation for driving under the influence and for refusing to take a field sobriety test. He wanted to weaken DUI penalties.
Also Not Mentioned
Gas prices. Minnesota’s statewide average hit $3.51 today — up 26% from $2.78 one month ago. The national average is $4.06. On March 23, Emmer called rising gas prices “a short-duration event” and told constituents to remember that under Biden, gas was higher. The data does not support that claim. Today’s national average exceeds Biden’s spring 2024 peak.
HCMC. Healthcare workers warned Minnesota lawmakers today that Hennepin County Medical Center — the state’s busiest Level One trauma center — faces a $200 million budget shortfall and potential closure without state intervention. HCMC has already closed 100 beds, laid off workers, and cut programs.
What He Tweeted
The Questions
The following questions were submitted to Rep. Emmer’s office via his official contact form at emmer.house.gov:
On CNBC this morning, you said “the regime has to go” when asked about Iran. The White House’s own fact sheet lists four objectives for Operation Epic Fury. Regime change is not among them. Is regime change your position? If so, what is your understanding of the legal authorization for that objective?
You described Operation Epic Fury as “an amazing, amazing mission.” Thirteen American service members have been killed. Oil is above $100 per barrel. Gas in your district is up 26% in one month. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed. By what measure is this amazing?
On January 7, you brought State Rep. Walter Hudson to Washington to testify before the House Oversight Committee and cited him as confirming “the facts” about Minnesota fraud. On March 27, Hudson was found carrying a concealed firearm while impaired, with a bottle of alcohol in a child’s car seat, after voting on the House floor during a workday he spent drinking. Do you have a comment?
You told CNBC this morning that DHS “has not been paid for half the fiscal year” because of “the Democrats’ refusal to work with Republicans.” Senate Republicans blocked nine separate Democratic proposals to fund TSA workers. Your party controls both chambers. You declared your job done on Day 3 of the shutdown. What specific negotiations have you conducted as Majority Whip to resolve this?
It has been 966 days since your last in-person town hall — August 9, 2023, Hamburg, MN. The United States is at war. Gas is up 26% in your district. When will you speak to your constituents?
We are still awaiting a response to all previous submissions.
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📊 Source Data:
Rep. Tom Emmer on Squawk Box, CNBC, April 1, 2026 — MN-06 Watch transcript (attached)
Trump address to the nation on Operation Epic Fury, White House, April 1, 2026 — CNBC, CBS, NPR, PBS live coverage
White House fact sheet: “President Trump’s Clear and Unchanging Objectives,” April 1, 2026
Oil prices: WTI $102.36/barrel, Brent $104.44 — CNBC, April 1, 2026
Gas prices: Minnesota $3.51/gallon (AAA); national average $4.06 — MPR News, April 1, 2026
NASA: Artemis II launch, Kennedy Space Center, April 1, 2026 — nasa.gov
Johnson/Thune joint statement on two-track DHS plan — NBC News, CNBC, April 1, 2026
Federal News Network: “Overlooked DHS staff sound off on shutdown,” April 1, 2026 (CISA, FEMA employees)
Sen. Mark Warner statement on Trump’s address — CNBC, April 1, 2026
@GOPMajorityWhip, @tomemmer — Twitter/X feed, March 31 – April 1, 2026
Emmer press release: “ICYMI: Whip Emmer blasts Tim Walz, Keith Ellison, Somali fraudsters in Oversight Committee hearing,” January 8, 2026 — emmer.house.gov
@GOPMajorityWhip tweet tagging @WalterHudson, January 7, 2026 (51.6K views)
Fox 9: “MN GOP lawmakers testify about fraud before Congress Oversight Committee,” January 7, 2026
MinnPost: “Congress takes on Minnesota fraud scandals in partisan hearing,” January 8, 2026
Ballotpedia: Walter Hudson candidate survey, 2022 — “Locally, I look up to Congressman Tom Emmer”
Mankato Free Press / AP: “Fed up with attacks, Minnesota Republicans wage war against far-right group,” April 12, 2025 — Bobby Benson (Emmer’s state chief of staff) brings anti-A4L resolution; Hudson leads charge
Action 4 Liberty: “Establishment Rep. Walter Hudson Takes a Knee,” January 26, 2025 — documents Hudson suppressing Emmer’s primary challenger at CD6 convention
Emmer Wikipedia: 2009 MN House bill to shorten DUI license revocation period
Minnesota Reformer: “Police: Rep. Walter Hudson was armed, intoxicated with Engen during DUI stop,” March 31, 2026
Star Tribune: “Rep. Elliott Engen is charged with DWI; another lawmaker during traffic stop was carrying handgun,” March 30, 2026
CBS Minnesota: “State Rep. Elliott Engen said he was ‘sober cabbing’ an armed Rep. Walter Hudson,” March 31, 2026
KSTP: “Police: Rep. Elliott Engen was ‘sober cabbing’ fellow Rep. Walter Hudson at time of DWI arrest,” March 31, 2026
KARE 11: “Police report: Rep. Walter Hudson was in vehicle when Rep. Elliott Engen was arrested,” March 31, 2026
Mesabi Tribune: “Rep. Walter Hudson won’t be charged for carrying a firearm while impaired,” April 1, 2026
Mesabi Tribune: Hudson on Alex Pretti — “The moment you choose to carry a firearm, your responsibility goes up, not down”
Minnesota District Court data: 375+ charges filed statewide in 2025 for carrying a firearm while intoxicated (via Mesabi Tribune)
Minnesota News Network: Morning Headlines, April 1, 2026 — DFL Leader Stephenson calls for answers
Minnesota News Network: Midday Headlines, April 1, 2026 — gas prices $3.51, HCMC $200M shortfall
MPR News: “Minnesota gas prices climb — but stay well below national average,” April 1, 2026
House Press Gallery: House in District Work Period March 27 – April 13
Previous edition: MN-06 Watch Daily, March 30, 2026 — “Recess”
Previous RvR: MN-06 Watch, March 29, 2026 — “The Gambit” (RvR #10)
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