Disappearing Act: Grant Hauschild Tried to Protect Taxpayer Funding for Radical Anti-Mining Political Group

Democrats love handing taxpayer money out to their friends and political allies through “legislatively named grants.” A process that requires befriending a politician and convincing them to give you money, courtesy of the Minnesota taxpayer. This is a process ripe for fraud and corruption because it’s based on connections with politicians rather than merit.

Tim Walz’s own Director of Program Integrity, hired specifically to root out fraud, called out this process for its vulnerability to fraud.

But that didn’t stop Democrat politicians from stuffing bills full of corrupt grants this year. In one case, Democrats attempted to award their allies at Friends of the Boundary Waters with over $1.25 million. Friends of the Boundary Waters is a radical left-wing anti-mining political group ran by metro liberals in St. Paul. They work to destroy various mining operations in the Northland like PolyMet and Twin Metals which boost the local economy and preserve the way of life of thousands of families in Grant Hauschild’s District.

Friends of the Boundary Waters works hard to destroy the Northern Minnesota economy.

When this bill was brought to the Senate Floor, Republicans offered an amendment to strip the $1.25 million grant.

Once everyone had voted, there was suspiciously a vote missing: Senator Grant Hauschild had left the room in an attempt to fund anti-mining efforts without putting his name on it.

In a rare show of bipartisanship in St. Paul, a single Democrat joined all 33 Republicans to strip the funding. But it wasn’t the Iron Range’s own Democrat Senator Grant Hauschild, it was a metro Democrat who lives hundreds of miles away from the Iron Range.

Grant Hauschild was torn: hand money to his radical allies or represent the interests of his community? He decided not to vote.  Not voting had the same result as voting for the money.

It’s odd that Grant decided to dodge his community on this vote. He had voted multiple times already that day, and was able to cast a vote just 15 minutes after he “disappeared.” Grant seems to think this was a clever move to hide his anti-mining views from the Iron Range residents he represents.  

The Northland deserves a leader who votes for them when it counts. Not a politician who disappears when things get tough.