Process for impeachment investigations against Walz, Ellison fails to advance in Minnesota House

A resolution setting up a process to investigate impeachment claims against DFL Gov. Tim Walz and DFL Attorney General Keith Ellison failed to move forward in the Minnesota House on Wednesday. 

The measure failed on a party-line vote after a heated hour-long debate in the House Rules and Legislative Administration Committee, whose membership is split evenly between Republicans and Democrats due to their historic tie in the chamber.

The resolution would have cleared a pathway to discuss two separate impeachment resolutions in which some House Republicans accuse Walz and Ellison of "corrupt conduct" in office related to the widespread fraud in state programs. It would have referred those resolutions to the GOP-led fraud committee for investigation and set May 1 as the deadline to submit its findings to the full House.

"When the governor knows of widespread fraud, fails to act and allows retaliation against those who speak out, that meets the constitutional threshold for impeachment," said Rep. Mike Weiner, a Republican co-sponsor of the Walz impeachment resolution who is a member of the Minnesota Freedom Caucus. 

But Wednesday is as far as any impeachment resolutions will likely go because lawmakers did not agree on even the parameters to set them in motion; the resolution on Wednesday did not discuss the merits of the allegations. 

"Governor Walz is focused on lowering costs. Republicans are focused on fighting Walz. It would be great if Republicans in the state legislature took a stab at serious work that actually helps people," the governor's office said in a statement. 

Walz ended his reelection campaign earlier this year while Ellison is seeking another term. 

House Democrats criticized the effort as "stupid" and "hair-brained idea" that amounted to a misplaced priority with just weeks to go until the Legislature adjourns for the year, illustrating once again the deep divides in the politically tied chamber that have defined the session so far. Both sides have tried and failed to advance their partisan priorities the last few months. 

"This is a fundamentally unserious proposal by a fundamentally unserious party who isn't interested in governing," said Rep. Mike Howard, DFL-Richfield. "Gas prices are rising because of Trump's illegal war in Iran. Health care, housing, child care costs are spiking. We have hospitals closing. Yet this is what we're going to do today? A bill that's absolutely going nowhere, dead on arrival, aimed at sticking it in the eye of the governor and attorney general." 

The Ellison impeachment resolution stems in part from Republicans' concern about a meeting the attorney general had with individuals who have since been convicted in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme. Ellison has previously pushed back on the nature of the meeting, saying he didn't know the people involved at the time, nor did he know of the crimes they were committing. 

As is the case in the U.S. Congress, the constitutional process in Minnesota is that the House has the power to impeach and the Senate conducts a trial and votes on whether or not to convict. 

The last time anyone was impeached and removed from office in the state was a judge back in 1882, according to nonpartisan House research staff.

Republicans who brought the resolutions forward said they would not back down from their fight. 

"This was strictly about just doing the right thing, whether it passes or fails. We believe this is the right thing to do," said Rep. Ben Davis, R-Merrifield.