Minnesota House returns to work for first time in 2025

For the second time in a month, Republican Lisa Demuth stood at the front of the Minnesota House on Thursday to be recognized as its newly elected speaker.

But instead of a half-empty chamber, the room was full — and this time, her election was legitimate.

“The significance of this great honor doesn’t escape me,” said Demuth, whose election as the first Black speaker in state history was a critical piece of a deal to end a stalemate in the chamber that stymied work for weeks.

“While we might not always agree, we do share the responsibility to govern, not as partisans but as public servants,” Demuth said. “The people of Minnesota have given us a unique opportunity with this closely divided House. They expect us to rise above the politics and to find solutions together.”

Democrats returned to the chamber after a nearly four-week boycott under an agreement that will give the two parties shared power over the next two years. Both sides said key concessions moved the needle and ended the impasse.

“Even though we had these rough few weeks, we can turn the page now,” DFL Leader Melissa Hortman said.

Yet, the two sides appeared separately in news conferences earlier Thursday to roll out the details of their agreement, a sign tensions remained.

“I think we will be able to work together well, but it will take some time,” Hortman said. “Certainly everybody’s pretty angry at each other.”

Pressure had been building on both sides. Democrats were facing heat for not showing up to the Capitol while still collecting pay. Republicans were on the losing side of a recent state Supreme Court ruling that invalidated weeks of action in the chamber, including the election of a speaker, and risked another unfavorable ruling in a new case up for argument Thursday.

In reaching a deal, legislators were able to set their own terms for co-governing.

“This is a win for co-equal branches of government,” said Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove. “We are not being told what to do by the courts, we are not being told what to do by the executive branch.”

Under the deal, Republicans will chair all House committees for the next month while they hold a 67-66 advantage. A March 11 special election for a safely blue Roseville-area seat is expected to bring the chamber to a tie. Once the House is evenly divided, Democrats and Republicans will co-chair the committees.

Hortman, who served as House speaker for the past six years, said she conceded the speakership in order to get a deal that included co-chairs on committees and an agreement to seat Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee.

Republicans had challenged Tabke’s 14-vote election victory in court after Scott County election officials lost 20 absentee ballots in one precinct. A judge upheld Tabke’s victory last month, but Republicans suggested they still could refuse to seat him.

The House Ethics Committee will hold a hearing about Tabke’s election but won’t take further action. Future election contests will also be heard in the committee, according to the agreement.

“I’m just going to be happy that people won’t be constantly saying my name, being the center of attention,” said Tabke from his seat at the back of the House chamber. “I’d much rather be in the back corner.”

The House was set to be tied 67-67 until a judge ruled in December that Democrat Curtis Johnson didn’t live in the Roseville-area district he was elected to represent and was ineligible to take office. That gave Republicans a temporary 67-66 advantage that initially caused them to back away from power-sharing talks.

On Thursday, both sides acknowledged the situation meant Democrats were going to have to give up the speakership. Hortman said she had to persuade the members of her caucus to agree.

“I witnessed Melissa Hortman give up something that she really wanted for the good of our caucus, for the good of your caucus, for the good of the people of the state of Minnesota,” Rep. Athena Hollins, DFL-St. Paul, said in an emotional speech on the House floor Thursday. “I don’t know how anybody could be a better leader than making that sacrifice.”

There will be some limitations on Demuth’s power as speaker, and it requires 68 votes to pass any bill, meaning they must have bipartisan support.

Democrats had boycotted legislative proceedings since the session started Jan. 14 to deprive Republicans of the quorum needed to conduct business. The Supreme Court sided with Democrats that 68 votes are needed for a quorum.

Republicans filed a subsequent lawsuit with the Supreme Court challenging Secretary of State Steve Simon’s role as presiding officer in the chamber and his ability to deny legislators from presenting motions. They wanted to penalize DFL legislators by issuing fines or withholding some of their salary.

The court still held oral arguments in the case, but Rep. Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, said they would no longer seek penalties against Democrats.

House committees will return to work Monday. Republicans are eager for a new GOP-led House Fraud and Agency Oversight Committee to start its work.

The GOP will chair the committee for two years and have a 5-3 voting margin over the DFL under the deal reached by House leaders.

“We have to address the waste, fraud and abuse,” said Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia. “I would be shocked if my colleagues on the DFL side of the aisle were not in favor of preventing waste, fraud and abuse.”

The major work of the session will be passing a two-year budget agreement before the constitutional deadline to adjourn in May. Minnesota has a small projected surplus for the current two-year budget but is facing a possible $5.1 billion shortfall in 2028-2029.

“We need to get a budget done,” Hortman said. “So I think all of our energy will be focused on that.”