Finkenauer Prioritizes Reopening U.s. Government

Opening the federal government would be a good first act for the new House Democratic majority, according to Abby Finkenauer, who Thursday will become Northeast Iowa’s first female U.S. representative.“That would be ideal,” she said Wednesday evening after a Democratic caucus meeting that followed congressional leaders’ meeting with President Donald Trump over the partial government shutdown.Finkenauer, a Dubuque Democrat who has served who terms in the Iowa House, will be sworn in along with 99 other freshmen representatives about noon, “and then right away we’re going in to vote to reopen the government.”The House plans to take up government funding measures that were approved by the Senate before the shutdown began last month.