A pair of dueling Monday press conferences in the Minnesota House of Representatives foreshadowed what could be an extremely difficult session of the Minnesota Legislature.
Earlier today, House Republicans held a press conference in which they announced their priorities for the upcoming legislative session which starts on Jan. 14.
Cutting taxes, holding criminals accountable, bringing down energy costs, and forming a new committee to combat fraud were among the GOP’s top goals.
However, the press conference was mostly dominated by revelations that House Democrats are prepared to not attend the first two weeks of the upcoming session in protest of the way Republicans plan to operate this session.
Incoming House Republicans will have a one-seat advantage
Following the 2024 elections, the Minnesota House appeared to be evenly tied with 67 Republicans and 67 Democrats. As such, both parties began negotiating a power-sharing agreement that included shared leadership of House committees and an equal number of GOP and DFL legislators on those committees.
However, a pair of election contests resulted in the Democrats temporarily losing at least one seat, meaning the incoming House stands at 67-66 in favor of the Republicans. Because the chamber is no longer tied, Republicans are planning to take control.
On Monday morning, the Minnesota political world was buzzing with reports that the House DFL is preparing to not show up at the Minnesota Legislature unless the GOP consents to a power-sharing agreement.
Just before the GOP’s press conference the same day, the House DFL released a statement in which they said “Democrats are prepared to use all parliamentary tactics available to us in the absence of a power-sharing agreement on the first day of session.”
GOP Speaker-designate Lisa Demuth, the leader of the House Republicans, told the gathered press that her caucus has an “organizational majority” given the one-seat advantage. The GOP leader said there’s no longer a need for a power-sharing agreement, noting that her caucus would elect a Republican speaker of the House and place all of the House committees in the control of the GOP.
When asked about the possible DFL absence, Demuth said: “House Republicans are going to be here, we are ready for work. We are ready to get to work for the state of Minnesota. There is absolutely no reason why Democrats wouldn’t show up on the first day of session and be ready to work for their constituents. There is no reason why taxpayers should be on the hook for paying for people that are not going to be at their jobs.”
Less than an hour after that press conference concluded, the House DFL Caucus held a press conference of their own in which they announced their intention to deny the GOP a quorum if House Republicans do not abide by a power-sharing agreement.
At that press conference, DFL Speaker-desginate Melissa Hortman said Minnesotans voted to elect an equal number of Democratic and Republican state representatives, and implementing a power-sharing agreement would honor the voters’ wishes.
Describing the Republican strategy as an “illegitimate power grab,” Hortman said Republicans are unable to even “turn on the lights” without DFL support.
The Minnesota Constitution requires a quorum for legislative business
Article IV, Section 13 of the Minnesota Constitution requires both the Minnesota House and the Minnesota Senate to have a majority of its members in attendance in order to conduct legislative business.
In the Minnesota House, there are 134 seats in total; a majority in this case is 68 seats. As such, Hortman and the Democrats argue that the GOP will not have a quorum to conduct business because they only have 67 members.
Meanwhile, the Republicans say that a majority of current members is all that is required to conduct business. Since the chamber will only have 133 members at the start of the next legislative session, the Republicans say their 67 votes are enough to elect a speaker and organize the House on the first day of session.
“There have been two instances where speakers were elected with 67 votes, once in 2005 and once in 1979,” the House GOP said in a press statement Monday afternoon.
Should the GOP attempt to take control of the chamber, the members of the House DFL plan to stay away from the state capitol and prevent the GOP from achieving a quorum.
That planned absence, which Hortman likened to a strike, could go on until the remaining vacant House seat is filled by a special election on Jan. 28. Since the DFL will almost certainly win the vacant seat, a 67-67 tie would resume in the House following the special election.
At Monday’s press conference, Hortman said DFLers would still be working during a potential walk-out by meeting with constituents and preparing legislation. As such, the DFL leader also indicated that the members of the House DFL Caucus would still collect their salaries.
Hortman personally predicted that there would be a power-sharing agreement in place before the start of session, thus averting a potential walk-out.
This is a developing story.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
