Watch CBS News

House Democrats take oath of office in secret 2 days before legislative session starts, sparking outrage

DFL plans to boycott start of 2025 legislative session
DFL plans to boycott start of 2025 legislative session 02:29

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota House Democrats took the oath of office early in a secret ceremony on Sunday, two days before the next session of the Legislature is set to start, the caucus said in a news release. It marks the latest twist in a bitter partisan power dispute that's intensified over the last week.

Democrats took that unprecedented step because of their plans to boycott the first day of session in an effort to keep Republicans from organizing as a majority and taking control of the chamber with their one-seat advantage. A once 67 to 67 tied chamber now favors the GOP — at least temporarily — due to a special election for a vacancy in a Roseville-area seat, following a judge's ruling that he violated state law by not living in the district before the election.

Lawmakers normally swear in on the first day, but DFL lawmakers did so early, they said, to deny Republicans the requisite number of members present to conduct house business — known as a quorum. Both parties are at odds over what constitutes a quorum: Republicans say it's 67 because of the vacancy, while Democrats' belief is it's 68 because there are 134 seats in the House. 

Republicans swiftly condemned the decision. And neither caucus has the same interpretation of the statute about the process of taking the oath of office, which says in part: "As each [legislative district]  is called, the persons claiming to be members from each shall present their certificates to be filed. All whose certificates are so presented shall then stand and be sworn."

"State law is clear: swearing in happens at noon on the day the legislature convenes; any attempt to subvert that is illegitimate," said GOP House Speaker-designate Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring. "This move is a slap in the face to the institution and to every voter who expects their elected officials to act in good faith and uphold the integrity of the legislative process. Minnesotans sent us here to govern, not to play political games. I am calling on the Governor to call out this outrageous stunt and tell his party to do their jobs by showing up on Tuesday."

Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, the DFL's Speaker-designate, said that despite the latest rift, she is hopeful that the parties can agree to a power-sharing agreement they were working towards before that judge's ruling upended negotiations. 

She also left open the possibility that they won't act on their plans to not show up to the capitol on Tuesday. Both leaders were set to meet sometime Monday evening in a last-ditch effort to find some sort of compromise. 

"Denial of quorum is a legitimate parliamentary tactic. Michigan House Republicans used the same tactic in December 2024. In the event Democrats choose to deny quorum, we wanted to be sure to have all our members properly and legally sworn in and we did that this evening," she said in a statement late Sunday. 

Minnesota’s legislative session set to have bumpy start 04:07

During an interview on MPR News on Monday, Hortman acknowledged taking the oath of office en masse has not happened before, but noted that some lawmakers in the past have not been present for the first day of session and were sworn in at a different time.

Senior District Court Judge Kevin Burke administered the oath to the members at the Minnesota History Center on Sunday. Hortman told reporters Monday that the House DFL's campaign committee paid for renting the space and a spokesperson for the center by email confirmed that rental. 

She said she proposed to GOP leadership a plan that would allow Republicans to convene as a majority on day one for a few weeks, allowing them to have the speaker's gavel and to control committees until the period of imbalance is over. 

"Once they elect a speaker, they could fire our staff. They could kick us out of our offices. They could change the rules," she explained.  "When we got back to a tie, any motion would fail on a tie, so we would never be able to undo anything they did with the temporary leadership. So that's why it's so important to us that there's an agreement that says, hey, during that three weeks, you want to be in charge, go ahead and be in charge. But when we go back to the tie that we're governing together, exactly like the Minnesota Senate did."

Demuth told WCCO that she would entertain last-minute negotiations, but Democrats' decision to take the oath of office had "tainted" those discussions. 

"I think that is incredibly disrespectful to the constituents, to the voters and the people of Minnesota, and to the House of Representatives as an institution," she said. 

The legislature is set to convene at noon Tuesday. In the state Senate, there is a temporary tie due to the vacancy left by the death of DFL Sen. Kari Dziedzic. A special election is scheduled for Jan. 28. GOP and DFL leaders came to an agreement to organize the chamber with equal power when session starts until that seat — which heavily favors Democrats — is filled. 

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.