On Eve Of Session, Minnesota House Still Locked In Bitter Power Struggle

On Eve Of Session, Minnesota House Still Locked In Bitter Power Struggle

Preparing for a possible walkout Tuesday, the DFL swore in members over the weekend, which the GOP called an illegal action.

SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The bitter power struggle in the Minnesota House of Representatives took another twist this weekend, when members of the Minnesota House DFL caucus gathered with their families Sunday at the Minnesota History Center to take the oath of office.

The event, which occurred two days before the start of the legislative session without any notice to the public, ignited a firestorm late Sunday after Fluence Media CEO Blois Olson broke the news on social media. House GOP leadership immediately denounced the move as flatly illegal and "a slap in the face to the institution," according to Rep. Lisa Demuth.

"I was shocked by what we heard," Demuth said in an interview. "If you're proud of what you're doing, why are you doing things in an unprecedented way, hiding from Minnesotans?"

In a news conference on Monday, however, DFL House Leader Rep. Melissa Hortman defended the move as both legal and necessary to guard against "extreme" Republican actions. Saying the party did not publicize the ceremony due to concerns about Republican activists disrupting the event, Hortman said the event was an "emergency" plan in case the party goes through with threats to skip the start of the session on Tuesday, in protest of the GOP's claim of an organizational majority by one vote.

DFL members are considering that tactic to deny a quorum, thus preventing Republicans from electing a speaker and possibly using House powers to deny seating DFL Rep. Brad Tabke, whose election is in the courts due to missing ballots. The Democrats swore-in Tabke at the Minnesota History Center event.

Demuth's recent comments on a podcast called into question whether Republicans would seat Tabke if they organized with a majority, although Demuth said Monday that it is "not a guarantee" that Republicans would take that action.

"That is so outrageous, that action of threatening to overturn the will of the voters. We only have two options," Hortman said. "One is filibuster, the other is denial of quorum."

With the clock ticking toward the start of the session on Tuesday at 12 p.m., Hortman said she planned to meet with Demuth again late Monday. She also said the DFL has offered to give Republicans temporary control of the chamber until the Jan. 28 special election, after which the two parties could revert to shared leadership as long as the DFL wins the vacant seat back to tie the House 67-67. (That seat, 40B in the Roseville area, isn't filled because a judge barred the winning DFL candidate from taking office because he didn't meet residency requirements.)

Demuth said the DFL's latest proposal is a "non-starter" in light of the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday.

"Right now, that seat -- because of illegal action that they don't like -- belongs to the voters of Roseville," Demuth said. "And that's what we will wait for."

Demuth and the Republicans also say they interpret the law as allowing them to open House business with a quorum on Tuesday with their 67 members alone since that would constitute a majority of elected members (133 versus 134 with the vacant seat). Although Secretary of State Steve Simon told House Republicans they don't have enough members on their own to reach quorum, Demuth and Rep. Harry Niska sent a letter to Simon on Monday challenging that interpretation and asking him to "set aside your political allegiance and put our democratic institutions and the rule of law above lawless, partisan games."

The House DFL described the Republicans' letter as "chilling" and said "it is extremely concerning that Republicans are escalating this situation to the point where they declare they will take unlawful action to ignore Minnesota's secretary of state and conduct a kangaroo court in the Minnesota House of Representatives."

For that reason, Hortman said the DFL decided to conduct the swearing-in ceremony at the Minnesota History Center on Sunday.

Former Hennepin County District Court Judge Kevin Burke administered oaths to the legislators on Sunday. He told KARE 11 in a phone interview that Rep. Hortman called him late last week to inquire about his availability.

"I did not have any sense that it was private or clandestine or anything," Burke said. "I gave the oath just like I've done at least 100 times, maybe 200 times. It's not an unusual thing."

However, Burke said he had no comment on the Republicans' assertion that the ceremony was illegal because it took place outside of the first day of the session, as laid out in Minnesota Statute 3.05. The DFL argues that the statute is not all-encompassing and that oaths of office outside the capitol have some precedent in history, although the party has not pointed to any specific examples where nearly an entire caucus has been sworn in together outside of House chambers.

"It is the tradition, I think, that everybody comes together in the capitol and they all get along on the first day and they start fighting after that, but even on that issue, it's happened before where there's tension between the political parties. And that isn't my role," Burke said. "I didn't do anything to facilitate more political bickering."

SOURCE: KARE 11