Republicans Stand Firm
Today the House convened for the opening of its 2025 session. All 67 Republicans were present; not a single Democrat chose to attend. Minnesota’s partisan Democrat Secretary of State, Steve Simon, has the ceremonial duty of convening the House. Simon abused that ceremonial role by purporting to find that there was not a quorum, and suggesting that the House should adjourn. That suggestion, which he has no legal authority to make, was based on absurd legal reasoning, as I explained in the post linked above.
Having delivered his ill-founded advice, Simon fled the premises. Republicans then took over. Majority Leader Harry Niska took the gavel and announced the presence of a quorum. The members who were present–all Republicans–then elected Lisa Demuth as Speaker. They adopted rules for the session and conducted a few other items of business, and will return tomorrow to continue the 2025 session.
At some point, the Democrats will come skulking back to the Capitol to assume their minority status. Meanwhile, the Republicans have called their bluff, and the Democrats’ attempt to bring the House to its knees failed. At the moment, there are only 67 sworn members of the House of Representatives, all Republicans. The Democrats held a fake swearing-in ceremony on Sunday afternoon, conducted off-premises by a retired judge. That farcical proceeding had no legal significance; the real swearing-in ceremony was conducted today in the Capitol, as specifically provided by state law. The Democrats didn’t show up.
" - Markemp - 2/18/24
