The weeks-long Minnesota State Capitol stalemate between House Democrats and Republicans appears to be coming to an end after sides reportedly reached a power sharing deal on Wednesday.
House GOP Leader Lisa Demuth will be the chamber's speaker through 2026 and that Republicans will chair all House committees given their 67-66 advantage. The chamber is expected to reach a 67-67 tie as a result of a March 11 special election called by Governor Tim Walz on Wednesday for a Roseville-area seat.
The deal also appears to keep DFL Rep. Brad Tabke safe from being ousted by Republicans who have repeatedly challenged the validity of his election despite the results upholding Tabke's victory last month in the Shakopee-area race.
"We wanted Republicans to do something very simple, uphold the will of the voters" House DFL leader Melissa Hortman told WCCO Radio's Vineeta Sawkar on Wednesday morning. "That means in Shakopee and statewide. Representative Brad Tabke will be seated. The 22,000 voters of Shakopee have voted and he should and will be seated. When we return to a tie, we will be in power sharing."
A House Ethics Committee is expected to hold a hearing about Tabke's race with no additional action taken.
Demuth told WCCO Radio's Vineeta Sawkar on Thursday morning that the House has plenty of work to focus on when they gavel-in in the afternoon.
"Building for the future so businesses can be successful and reducing the tax burden for Minnesotans because the increase in spending over the last two years," Demuth said. "Those things need to be done and so we need to get to work."
On Tuesday, Republicans announced recall petitions against all 66 DFL House members. In a statement, Minnesota GOP Chair Alex Plechash said they'll take a "wait and see" approach with the recall and urged Democrats to return the taxpayer money they took while refusing to show up to the Capitol.
“Congratulations to Speaker Lisa Demuth, the first Black Speaker of the Minnesota House—a historic milestone and a victory for all Minnesotans. Her leadership marks a new era of accountability, common sense, and a commitment to getting Minnesota back on track," Plechash said. "After weeks of gridlock, we’re glad Democrats have finally come to their senses and agreed to return to work. But let’s be clear—this only happened because of overwhelming pressure from grassroots Republicans across the state. In just 24 hours, we gathered over 7,000 recall signatures, sending an unmistakable message: Minnesotans won’t tolerate politicians skipping work while cashing a paycheck."
When finalized, the deal would bring an end to the DFL boycott that began when the House first attempted to gavel-in on January 14th. The GOP attempted to control the House arguing a quorum was present, an idea nullified by the Minnesota Supreme Court that said they couldn't conduct business without a quorum of 68 members.
The agreement also creates a GOP-led House Fraud and Agency Oversight Committee to investigate fraud in state government programs. That committee will not have subpoena power according to Hortman.
"It will be chaired by a Republican for a full two years," Hortman said. "We certainly recognized that starting on the first day of session that 67-66 meant that there were certain advantages that Republicans should be able to permanently keep during a two-year period."
DFL and GOP leaders are expected to share more details about the agreement during separate Thursday morning press conferences.
