While the state Shores up its finances Congress is struggling with not one but two potential government shutdown deadlines racing against the clock to pass a short-term spending bill by midnight tomorrow as a snowstorm slated to hit Washington DC threatens to derail the whole thing the Senate's done their part voting to approve a stop Gap bill now it's on to the house and I'm joined by congresswoman Mikie Sherrill who's in the Capitol for the latest.

Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill thank for giving us a few minutes of your time let me ask you first about this Log Jam that's happening really over uh Aid with Ukraine and looking at the border policies here in the US what's the likelihood that the house will take up a vote in time to avert a shutdown tomorrow night so I think we're going to avert a shutdown we're working uh we actually have a snowstorm coming here into Washington so we're I know the Senate's uh working right now to get the continuing resolution over to the house so this won't actually be passing our new budget which we still um haven't been able to do this will be continuing though continuing last year's budget so we can keep the government open as we continue to work to resolve some of the issues we still have getting the Appropriations bills done um and even that even the basic budget um continues to run into snag with the house Freedom caucus the speaker announces uh how we're going to move forward and then um the far right of his party uh undermines him and tries to uh stop all forward movement so we're continuing to work forward I think we have a plan for a continuing resolution um but then as far as the supplemental that really remains in limbo here and you know it really is egregious at this point I think um there is wide bipartisan support for addressing our border for security at the border for better processing better resources at our border um and that has been put forward that was put forward months ago with a supplemental by the president for more resources at the border um and then the Senate has been negotiating and they have come to um I I think after the negotiation stalled before the holidays it sounds like they have been making great progress moving forward on that and yet the fre that's my question not going to do it yeah can you can you do the same and right we'll clarify this is a stop Gap bill that needs to be this continuing resolution that needs to be voted on by tomorrow night not the full spending plan but it seems like you all are in the same position uh you were in previously when we had house Speaker McCarthy how do you get around this then well I think that's a really good question and again um it you know know my concern was always that it doesn't get easier when you get into a presidential year and we've already of course heard um former president Trump suggesting to not do things you know don't get a border solution wait until I get into office um so again just trying to undermine the functioning of the country uh for Pure partisan politics for which you know is the very opposite of what we need to see from our elected officials when we have so much at stake it's not just what's going on here at home but we look across the world at a lot of the crises uh that we are instrumental in helping to manage um so that we can get better outcomes for people across the world but also for people here at home uh and that's that's really remains in question because again and again and again as we attempt to find different ways to move forward in the house we are stonewalled by this the the the freedom caucus and it does appear as if it's become almost unmanageable for the GOP to have the majority we see a very different Congress in the last session we see all the bipartisan were huge expansive bipartisan bills like the bipartisan infrastructure law that we work together to get across the Finish Line with remember also very small majorities in the Democratic majority we see in the Senate right now very small majorities but a willingness to work together to continue working for the American people and yet the the House GOP simp cannot govern when you see the GOP in the majority in these legislative bodies they they simply can't govern at this point and it's become so egregious we're seeing this kind of Breaking Point as we try just to get the budget pass just to get the supplemental pass so it's really unclear uh how and if we're going to be able to do that supplemental with that critical border support well let me uh switch gears then um looking at the the frustration that has been in Congress you had a a really good quarter in terms of fundraising um obviously you are up for reelection this year but there are other potential races looming down the pike what are you thinking about in terms of a gubernatorial run well as you can imagine right now given um how I've laid out what's going on in the house what I am focused on is making sure we get back into the majority in the house there is so much that we passed in the last Congress that is good for new Jersey so whether it is the Gateway tunnel project um continuing to invest in research and development I've seen huge expansions and businesses in my district um we need to invest in our schools one of the biggest concerns I hear in my district is the businesses can't don't have enough of a Workforce they need more people to fuel the economy as we move into this new economy so that's what I'm focused on now I do think we have a a great shot at Future planning for the state I think the new economy we're building is going to work very very well for New Jersey all right let me ask you one more one of the items you mentioned that there's a lot that you're focused on for the district um looking at AI uh artificial intelligence and protecting students from what we call Deep fakes which is interesting because Governor Murphy in his State of the State just announced that he wants New Jersey to become this generative hub for AI what's the issue that you're looking at what's your concern wellow wow I I have a lot of concerns and I say that because I understand both sides of this so part of the legislation that I'm working on right now is uh around deep fakes as you mentioned um we saw in Westfield young girls 14year olds um whose faces were taken and put on top of naked bodies and then that was shared among a lot of the students so it looked as if they were naked pictures of these young 14-year-old girls um and that was as you can imagine a a horrible horrible experience for them and as their parents went forward to try to address this they found there there were almost no regulations around these deep fakes um and so that's what we're working on here in the house uh We've introduced a bill to provide penalties for these deep fakes so that we can have some regulation around them and there's a means to address this but to your broader question I think what you have said is is is what keeps me up at night there is an incredible amount of opportunity in some of the new technologies they will they will change the very way people live often for the better when we talk about AI when we talk about future Quantum when we talk about some of the new research and development into different energy but I don't think when it comes to our children we have appropriately addressed the downside risk so I know to a lot of people who maybe don't have school aged children and haven't seen the the horrible impacts of social media and the internet on sometimes very very young children I know that I sound like some 1950s era conservative mom that you know I just I I want to shut down everything and I'm a technophobe that is not true I love the new technology I'm supporting advances in research and development we can do so much but we have got to do a better job protecting our children we are simply not doing enough in this area and it is harming a whole generation of kids right now congresswoman Mikie Sherrill always good to have you on the show thank you for your time thanks so much