U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is defending a recent vote to protect gun ownership rights for veterans and other votes in line with Republicans.
Tester and a handful of fellow Democrats in battleground states joined with Senate Republicans to pass the gun policy. It allows veterans who are deemed unfit to manage their VA benefits to maintain their ability to buy a gun. Tester told MTPR financial trouble shouldn’t stand in the way of Second Amendment rights, while other Democrats argue the policy will lead to more suicides among veterans.
Tester’s vote on the veteran gun ownership policy is one recent example of the senator bucking his party. Tester approved of a bill brought by Republicans to freeze Iranian assets following the attack on Israel by a terrorist group linked to Iran.
Tester also called the southern border “a mess,” and said he’s not content with President Biden’s immigration policies.
National Republicans have championed Bozeman veteran Tim Sheehy to unseat Tester, who won his last election in deep-red Montana by less than four percentage points in 2018.
MTPR asked the senator if his recent votes have been made with an approaching election in mind.
“No,” Tester said. “These come from my perspective on what Montana needs. I’ve been pushing back on the border for a long time.”
Political data analysis site FiveThirtyEight found Tester voted in tandem with President Biden on 91% of issues from 2021 through 2022.
Tester also said he’s hopeful newly elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) will jump-start the lower chamber, which had been leaderless for three weeks. He anticipates that Congress will have to extend last year’s budget to avoid a government shutdown, which he said “isn’t optimal.”
