House GOP slams Simon’s assertion of 68-member quorum: ‘plainly incorrect’

Top Minnesota House Republicans on Monday blasted a letter by Secretary of State Steve Simon theorizing that 68 members are required to do business in the House of Representatives.

A letter responding to Simon signed by House Speaker-designate Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring), and House Majority Leader-designate Harry Niska (R-Ramsey), rejected the DFL interpretation of a quorum and accused the secretary of state of joining an “attack on our democratic institutions.”

Monday’s letter comes in anticipation of a constitutional showdown when the Legislature convenes at noon Tuesday.

However, Simon responded to Demuth and Niska in another letter on Monday evening, saying in part, “I respectfully disagree, however, as to your conclusion that a quorum is based on the current membership of the House, rather than its total membership. I understand your position to be that there is a distinction n between the phrase ‘majority of [the House]’ as used in the quorum provision of Article IV, section 13 and ‘majority of all the members elected to each house’ as used in Article IV, section 22. You indicate the
former means the current membership of the House and the latter phrase means the total potential membership of the House. As support for that position, you point to the debates and proceedings of the Republican delegates during the Minnesota Constitutional Convention. Any interpretation of the Constitution must start with the text and structure of the Constitution, rather than the records of the Constitutional Convention. Schroeder v. Simon, 985 N.W.2d 529, 536 (Minn. 2023). Because of the complicated process that went into drafting the Constitution, courts have cautioned against relying on the convention debates in assessing the drafters’ intent. See State v. Lessley, 779 N.W.2d 825, 840 (Minn. 2010) (explaining that the debates “’are of limited value’). For all the reasons I stated in my
previous letter, the plain language of the Constitution makes clear a quorum is a majority
of the total membership of the House.”

You can read the full letter from Simon at the bottom of this article.

Prior to a successful election contest that invalidated a DFL candidate’s win in House District 40B, the House appeared to be headed to a 67-67 tie, and both parties were discussing a power-sharing agreement. But when the House convenes on Tuesday, the chamber will have 133 elected members: 67 Republicans and 66 Democrats.

Now that Republicans will have a one-seat advantage, DFL lawmakers are threatening to abstain from the House to deny a quorum and prevent Republicans from seizing the privileges of majority control.

Democrats — including Simon, who presides over the House of Representatives until a speaker is chosen and members are sworn in — contend that the language of the Minnesota Constitution sets a quorum as the majority of the maximum membership of the House.

Republicans firmly disagree. In Monday’s letter, Demuth and Niska asserted that 67 members compose a majority among 133 elected members.

“At times when the House has fewer than 134 members, it is plainly incorrect that ‘Minnesota law requires that 68 members of the House be present for a quorum,'” the letter states.

They further accused Simon of attempting to overstep his role as a “ceremonial” presiding officer of the House of Representatives — which includes taking roll call to determine whether there is a quorum — and promised to replace him if he attempted to adjourn the House.

“Regardless of your opinion of which quorum rule should be followed, you do not have the sweeping power to interfere with the House’s operations that your January 10 letter appears to claim,” the letter states. “… If you seek to overstep your authority, you are subject to removal and replacement by the body.”

DFL House leadership held a news conference Monday afternoon defending their plan to withhold a quorum. House Speaker-designate Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, expressed particular concern about Republicans’ intention to remove Simon as presiding officer.

“We’re very concerned that Republicans appear to be escalating this situation to the point that they’re going to take unlawful action on the first day and actually disregard [the] Minnesota secretary of state and potentially even conduct a kangaroo court in the Minnesota House of Representatives,” Hortman said.

Hortman — whose caucus broke with tradition and took the oath of office early in a secret ceremony at the Minnesota History Center on Sunday — also said it was “outrageous” that Republicans would try to govern as though their one-seat advantage would carry for the next two years.

When pressed on whether the covert swearing-in was an escalation by the DFL, Hortman dismissed the premise as “silly” and said the ceremony “is a ministerial act, and it’s not really that big of a deal to have it happen in a different location.”

If the GOP does go through with its plan and elects a speaker with 67 members, Hortman said the DFL would pursue court action on grounds that “the House was not duly organized.”

House Democrats and Republicans will attempt to reach a compromise during a conference Monday evening.