NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A congressional vote to formally admonish Michelle Lujan Grisham for her gun ban is caught up in the political fight over a government shutdown. At least one New Mexico Democrat says he is on board.
“We need to focus the conversation on that and produce constitutional, legal, enforceable solutions that are going to help out children and our families,” says Congressman Gabe Vasquez, whose district includes parts of the South Valley. He indicated he would vote for a resolution condemning the governor, saying solutions to gun violence must be constitutional and enforceable.
The full House was set to vote on a resolution condemning the governor Monday afternoon but a spokesperson for New Mexico Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez tells KRQE it was tied to the continuing resolution to keep the government funded for the next month and a procedural vote set for Monday afternoon was canceled, putting the resolution on hold.
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While Congressman Vasquez says he would vote for the resolution, it’s less a condemnation of the governor and more about the need to protect the rights of gun owners. “The governor did something [to] raise the conversation about gun violence in this state that we desperately need to talk about,” Vasquez says.
Meanwhile, Representative Melanie Stansbury, who represents a large chunk of Bernalillo County, said she intends to vote against the condemnation, calling it a distraction from the efforts to keep the government open. Congresswoman Leger Fernandez has yet to say how she would vote.
Meanwhile, we were able to ask Senator Martin Heinrich about his thoughts on the governor’s order. “I’m not a judge, but it seems to be outside the bounds of what most courts have ruled in recent years,” says Senator Heinrich. “So let’s focus on those areas where we can make new laws, and we need to do some of that.”
The House resolution on the governor could go back to the rules committee so it can be separated from the resolution to fund the government.