Out Democrat forced to miss critical debt-ceiling vote due to ankle injury

Out Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) will miss today’s debt ceiling vote due to a fractured ankle.

A statement from her chief of staff, Nick Coe, said Craig tripped while doing yard work at home in Minnesota and “was transported to a local hospital where she was diagnosed with a bimalleolar fracture, as well as a dislocated ankle.”

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S.B. 171 would have prevented people convicted of hate crimes from owning guns.

Coe said she has surgery scheduled for Thursday, and her doctor advised against traveling immediately before or after. As such, she cannot travel to D.C. for the vote.

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“Rep. Craig and [her wife] Cheryl are grateful to the Prior Lake Police and Fire Departments who responded to the incident,” the statement concluded, “and Rep. Craig looks forward to getting back to work for the people of the Second District as soon as possible.”

The House will take a final vote tonight on a controversial deal to increase the debt ceiling.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act is the result of a compromise between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)and the White House, to which far-right Republicans are vehemently opposed. They have been skewering McCarthy for his willingness to accept the deal, which would create two years of caps on discretionary spending in exchange for deferring the country’s borrowing limit through 2025, according to the New York Times.

The Congressional Budget Office reported that over the next decade, the legislation would decrease discretionary spending by $1.3 trillion, cut mandatory spending by $10 billion, and reduce revenues by $2 billion. It would also decrease budget deficits by $1.5 trillion.

Congress has been in a race against the clock to reach an agreement by June 5, when the U.S. will default on its debt if the legislation does not succeed. Many have said the default would be “catastrophic” if it happened and also that this moment is a huge test of McCarthy’s leadership, as he barely scraped out a victory for the role of speaker after a historic 15 rounds of voting.

McCarthy recently told reporters he feels “confident” the bill will pass. But there are likely to be yes and no votes coming from both sides of the aisle. In addition to Craig, another Democrat, Rep. Deborah Ross (NC), will miss the vote after testing positive for COVID-19.

Craig is the first out LGBTQ+ member of Congress from Minnesota. Earlier this year, she was assaulted in an elevator in her Washington, D.C. apartment building.

After the attack, which left Craig with some bruises but “physically okay,” as Coe said, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) tweeted, “To give you a sense of how strong @AngieCraigMN is, she went straight to the Hill this morning and attended a meeting in the Senate with the Governor and me and several members of our delegation about legislation for the people of her district. No one messes with Angie.”