Smith holds Senate floor for hours, delaying vote on Boundary Waters mining measure
The U.S. Senate delayed a vote on House Joint Resolution 140 after Sen. Tina Smith held the floor in protest for three hours, recounting the history of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and sharing stories from constituents before concluding by saying Minnesotans’ voices would be heard.
The Senate is scheduled to resume debate at 10 a.m. EST and vote on the resolution at 11 a.m. EST.
Smith announced her intention to hold the floor shortly before the vote was scheduled.
“If they want to go against the will of Minnesotans, then I am going to hold the Senate floor for hours to give them every opportunity to change their minds and do the right thing,” Smith said in a statement.
House Joint Resolution 140 would overturn Public Land Order 7917, enacted in 2023. The order established a 20-year mining withdrawal in the Superior National Forest and the Rainy River Watershed, much of which lies within the Boundary Waters. The withdrawal directly affected a proposed copper-nickel mine by Twin Metals LLC.
The resolution was introduced by Rep. Pete Stauber, who represents Minnesota’s 8th District in northeastern Minnesota. It passed the House in January. A Senate vote was initially expected as early as February but was delayed as the deadline to act on the resolution approached.
“I am excited that the Senate is expected to pass my Congressional Review Act resolution soon, repealing Biden’s illegal mining ban in the Superior National Forest and opening the door for the responsible development of critical minerals, helium, and other natural resources that will allow us to compete in the 21st century,” Stauber said in a statement.
The resolution would make unprecedented use of the Congressional Review Act, a law that allows Congress to overturn certain federal actions. The CRA has not previously been used to rescind a public land order.
Smith has previously spoken about the importance of the Boundary Waters and her opposition to overturning the mineral withdrawal. She spoke at a press conference in February when a Senate vote was first anticipated.
Smith was joined by fellow Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, along with Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico.
All four senators shared personal perspectives on the Boundary Waters. Klobuchar described her family’s connection to mining and the outdoors.
“I am the granddaughter of an iron ore miner,” Klobuchar said. “But what this is about today is something else, because my grandpa always got that balance. It was a balance of the working life that we must continue up in northern Minnesota and a balance of the world around him, that world where he loved to hunt and he loved to fish.”
Heinrich spoke about the environmental risks associated with mining in the watershed.
“Deep underground, the copper is locked up in this ore rich in sulfur, but that’s never been exposed to water or oxygen or air,” Heinrich said. “When you bring it up to the surface and let it sit in a pile and expose it to air and water, oxygen bonds with that sulfur, and when you bond that, you get sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is one of the hardest things to control.”
At midnight in D.C., Smith finally yielded the floor.
“You may be wondering why I am standing here at nearly midnight keeping everybody up, and here’s why,” Smith said. “I know there are so many people in Minnesota who are wondering whether anybody in this building cares about what they think. And the one thing that I can do is to be here speaking to this mostly empty room, making sure to the best of my abilities that their voices will be heard. Their voices will be heard, regardless of what the Senate does.”
Audio of Klobuchar and Smith speaking on the Senate floor is available below.
Josh Hinke April 16, 2026
