Minnesota’s Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday on whether the state House of Representatives can continue to operate as a quorum with only 67 Republican members present as Democratic-Farmer-Labor representatives continue boycotting the legislative session.

With House DFLers absent from the Capitol for 10 days, House Republicans have been moving forward with regular business, including electing GOP Rep. Lisa Demuth as speaker, something DFL House leadership and Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, argue is unconstitutional.

The power dispute could delay any major legislative activity into March.

Simon and the DFL argue that there needs to be at least 68 members for the House to have a quorum — a majority of the 134 seats. But Republicans argue they only need 67 members — a majority of the 133 current members of the House.

“The issue today is neither political nor partisan,” House DFL attorney David Zoll told the Supreme Court. “It’s a question of constitutional law.”

Six of the seven Supreme Court justices heard arguments for about an hour Thursday and questioned both sides about their cases. Justice Karl Procaccini recused himself. The justices didn’t give an exact date for when they’d rule, but a decision could come soon as resolving the matter is key to ending the House power struggle.

House Republican Attorney Nicholas Nelson said the current impasse is an “alleged quorum problem” of Democrats’ making.

“Members of the Legislature should come to the Capitol and do the jobs they were elected to do,” he said, adding that sitting members have the power to compel attendance of absent members.

Jurisdiction question

Republicans in court filings cited legal cases backing their position that the House only requires 67 members to meet quorum, but on Thursday, Nelson spent much of his time before the justices arguing the Supreme Court didn’t have jurisdiction over the Legislature in the first place.

At the opening of the hearing, Chief Justice Natalie Hudson told Solicitor General Liz Kramer, who represented Simon, that she found both the GOP and DFL arguments reasonable, though justices were skeptical of Nelson’s argument that the court didn’t have jurisdiction over Legislative power disputes.

Hudson agreed that the judicial branch should exercise caution when reaching into the affairs of another branch of government, but said there have been times when action by the courts is required.

“What we have is a co-equal branch of government that is completely dysfunctional, that is not doing the will and the work of the people of Minnesota,” she said.

Kramer said the state Supreme Court had ruled in the past that a two-thirds threshold in the House to pass bills is determined by the largest possible number of members. That would be 134 in the House. She also pointed to other states where quorum is determined in a similar way: Delaware, Florida and Kansas.

DFL no-show in House

The 2025 session got off to a rough start last week when Democrats, upset with Republicans for using what could likely be a temporary one-seat advantage to act as a majority, were a no-show on the first day.

Secretary Simon presided over the House’s initial business, but ruled there weren’t enough members present and adjourned. Republicans then acted on their own to move forward with legislative business, prompting DFL petitions with the state Supreme Court.

In their petition, top House DFLer Melissa Hortman and other leaders called Republicans’ actions “improper, unlawful, and without legal effect,” and asked the court to stop the session until a quorum of 68 members returns to the chamber.

GOP response

In their responses, Republicans disputed DFL quorum claims and said Simon, a member of the executive branch, has no right to tell the legislative branch how to do its business.

They’ve argued that Simon’s role as presiding officer over the House is merely ceremonial.

“These petitions present a separation-of-powers nightmare. They demand that the presiding officer of Minnesota’s House of Representatives be chosen by the courts,” GOP attorneys wrote. “And they demand that the courts install an executive branch official as presider, overturning the House’s own election.”

Leading up to this

November’s election resulted in a 67-67 tie between the DFL and Republicans, and a power-sharing agreement was being negotiated. But the DFL is currently one seat down after a candidate was disqualified for not living in the district he ran to represent. Rep.-elect Curtis Johnson stepped down in late December after a court found there was enough evidence to show he didn’t live in the Roseville-area district where he claimed residency.

Johnson defeated his GOP opponent by 30 points, so the House tie likely will return after a special election to fill that seat is held in March. But Republicans are trying to use this window of opportunity to take control of committees and elect a speaker for the next two years.

To prevent that from happening, DFL representatives are currently boycotting the session.

Talks on the power-sharing deal fell apart before the Legislature convened on Jan 14.

Democrats also are not showing up at the Capitol because Republicans have suggested they might not seat Shakopee DFL Rep. Brad Tabke, even after a judge ruled he was eligible to take the District 54A seat despite 20 missing ballots in the race.