Groundhog Day at the Capitol: House standoff lengthens
MN House standoff continues
Minnesota’s big political stalemate did not get resolved Wednesday. The state House is not in order, and while some Democrats and Republicans talked about the standoff, leaders didn’t even negotiate with each other Wednesday. It’s a lot like Groundhog Day at the Capitol even though Punxsatawney Phil won’t pop up until Sunday.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota’s big political stalemate did not get resolved Wednesday.
The House is not in order, and while some Democrats and Republicans talked about the standoff, leaders didn’t even negotiate with each other on Wednesday.
It’s a lot like Groundhog Day at the Capitol, even though Punxsutawney Phil won’t pop up until Sunday.
READ MORE: Standoff extended in Minnesota House with no power-sharing deal
Groundhog Day
Capitol repeat:
There are 67 House Republicans who came to the Capitol again today, but they couldn’t do anything.
With the decision that a quorum is 68, everything they’ve done is now erased, and the next step is for Democrats to show up.
But first, they want a power-sharing agreement that the GOP is unwilling to give.
Secretary of State Steve Simon briefly presided over a half-empty House chamber. And since the House has now never officially met, there are no committees. Every committee meeting was canceled, leaving those rooms completely empty.
The DFL has offered to let Republicans have all the positions of power in the House until and unless a vote in Roseville gives them a 67-67 tie.
At that point, they want shared power.
Republicans tried to run with all the leadership positions for two years — no matter what happens in Roseville — and they haven’t budged from that position even after losing in the state Supreme Court.
So the Democrats extended their boycott, saying they’re working away from the Capitol instead of coming here.
READ MORE: MN Supreme Court resolution could settle Minnesota House power struggle
Same as it ever was
Negotiations stalled:
All of that was from Monday, but every word of it still applied on Tuesday and again Wednesday. We know leaders have negotiated more since then, but without any breakthroughs.
So the clothes change, but the political messages remain the same.
"Democrats need to show up for work," GOP Speaker-designate Lisa Demuth said on Monday.
"They need to show up," she said on Tuesday.
"It would take one Democrat to show up," Demuth said on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Still stuck: State Supreme Court decision can't clear Minnesota House logjam
What's changed?
Less to say?: One thing did change Wednesday: Democrats did not give a press briefing.
They told FOX 9 they’d basically be saying the same thing for a third straight day, that Republicans won’t accept a very reasonable offer.
GOP leaders disagree about the offer being reasonable at all.