lame duck

The Michigan Senate sent a flurry of bills to the governor as it met Thursday night and deep into Friday morning.

Action in the Legislature’s lame duck session stalled Wednesday as a boycott by all the House Republicans plus one Democrat left the chamber without a quorum to conduct business.

Frustration is boiling over at the state Capitol as the final days of Democrats’ complete control in Lansing come to an end. Republicans are continuing to boycott votes in the House, a Democratic lawmaker walked out of the Capitol while voting was underway, and state Representatives are taking to social media to vent their anger.

In this week’s It’s Just Politics newsletter, Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta take you behind the scenes of a day of lame duck in the 102nd Legislative session in Lansing. Plus, this week marks the tenth anniversary of the city of Detroit emerging from the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy, and a recount in Calhoun County shows that every vote really does matter.

Civil liberties groups are concerned that the incoming Republican majority in Washington may act to water down federal voting rights law.

The Legislature returns to state Capitol Tuesday as lawmakers bargain over what to do before this session wraps up at the end of the year. One subject of negotiations is road funding.

More than 100 people gathered in Lansing on Wednesday to support legislation that would simplify Michigan’s name and gender marker change processes.

Several priorities remain on the table for Michigan legislative Democrats as the clock ticks down on their time in charge of both the state House and Senate.

In this week’s It’s Just Politics newsletter, Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta dig into why state House Democrats are failing to deliver their lame-duck legislative agenda in Lansing. Plus, Michigan Republican Chairman Pete Hoestra is picked by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next United States Ambassador to Canada and the future for Democratic state Senator Mallory McMorrow.

On this week’s It’s Just Politics, hosts Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta are joined by Bridge Michigan politics reporters Jordyn Hermani and Simon Schuster to discuss why state House Democrats are failing to deliver their lame-duck legislative agenda. Plus, a conversation with state Democratic Representative Rachel Hood on why she is calling Lansing “toxic.”