Rep. Emmer heads panel to discuss Trump’s first year in office

It has been an interesting year in politics since Donald Trump became President of the United States on Jan. 20, 2017.

To say the least.

Now, a panel discussion featuring Sixth District Congressman Tom Emmer will discuss the first year of the Trump administration and look ahead to 2018 at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24, at room 204, Gorecki Center, College of Saint Benedict.

“Reviewing Washington: An Assessment of the Trump Administration’s First Year” will also feature Louis Johnston, professor of economics at CSB and Saint John’s University, and Liz Fedor, trending editor at Twin Cities Business magazine.

The panel will discuss legislative accomplishments and setbacks over the past year, and what is ahead on the political horizon for 2018.

Emmer, whose district includes CSB and SJU, was sworn in for his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives on Jan. 6, 2015. On November 2016, he was re-elected to a second term in the 115th Congress.

A lawyer by profession, Emmer was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2004, and was re-elected in 2006 and 2008. After a loss in the 2010 gubernatorial race to Gov. Mark Dayton, he became a radio host.

Johnston specializes in macroeconomics, economist history and the links between policy and history. Johnston was responsible for all the chapters on macroeconomics in the fourth and fifth editions of “Principles of Economics” by Robert Frank and Ben Bernanke, as well as the first and second editions of “Principles of Economics, Brief Edition.”

He also writes a column for MinnPost called “Macro, Micro and Minnesota” and is a regular guest and contributor on economic issues for MPR and WCCO Radio.

Fedor joined Twin Cities Business in September 2013. She assigns, edits and writes the magazine's Trending sections, which provide business leaders with the latest information on specific industries.

She’s an 11-year veteran of the Star Tribune newspaper, where she reported on the airline industry and manufacturing, and supervised coverage of agriculture, consumer issues and the housing market. Before that, she was editorial page editor, Minnesota political reporter and a columnist at the Grand Forks (North Dakota) Herald.

The event is sponsored by the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement.