| Lace up your running shoes because the "real" session is on. Lawmakers won't be able to recoup the lost time. How much was really sacrificed depends on who you ask. Republicans, who had been at the Capitol during the House standoff, say critical time and agency overviews were missed over the prior three weeks. Democrats, whose boycott is now over, say they spent their time doing other kinds of issue orientation and bill preparation. Either way, the Republicans chairing committees during the next five weeks at least plan to charge forward. Dana Ferguson reports that it all begins with a new House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee that holds its inaugural hearing Monday. Anti-fraud measures will likely pick up bipartisan backing this year, but the shape and scope of those is where the debate will be. No matter what, Republicans will drive that discussion because they'll keep the panel's majority even if Democrats win a chamber-tying special election on March 11.
Speaking of that election, the two party-endorsed candidates who had been gearing up for a Jan. 28 showdown have registered to run in the March race. Remember that the Supreme Court called off the earlier election after saying it was called too hastily and candidates didn't have enough time to sign up. DFLer David Gottfried and Republican Paul Wikstrom , the GOP's November nominee, will have the inside track to the ballot for the March special election to represent Roseville and Shoreview in the House. Democrats are favored but it's no slam dunk. Other candidates have until Tuesday to get in. If there are multiple candidates seeking each party's nod, there will be a Feb. 25 primary. Given the time it will take to certify an eventual winner, don't bank on a full House until the week of St. Patrick's Day.
The Minnesota Supreme Court decided not to decide if a House lacking a quorum can summon absentee lawmakers in before an organization session is held. Justices heard oral arguments in the Republican lawsuit last Thursday despite a deal that broke the weekslong stalemate. But on Friday, they dismissed the lawsuit as moot given that the deadlock had been resolved. To be fair, the Republican House plaintiffs asked for the outcome and the Secretary of State's Office — the defendant in the case — joined in that request. The court wasn't all that comfortable with any involvement in the Legislature's internal problems so this result makes sense. But we'll never know if "a rogue secretary of state," as Justice Karl Procaccini floated the possibility of, will be hemmed in should there be a repeat. (To be clear, he wasn't calling Secretary Steve Simon a rogue actor, but suggested there could be a villainous figure in the role sometime in the future.)
A federal judge, meanwhile, has invalidated a relatively new state campaign finance law over constitutional concerns. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce had sued over the 2023 law that limited the political participation of corporations with foreign ownership above a certain level. The law had been on hold since the same judge issued an injunction in late 2023 that barred enforcement while the case proceeded. DFL lawmakers passed the measure in 2023 in an effort to keep international firms from influencing Minnesota politics. Domestic companies with as little as 1 percent ownership by a foreign shareholder could have faced legal penalties for making campaign contributions. In a lawsuit, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce argued that the measure violates businesses' free speech rights and is superseded by federal election law. Pointing to a 2010 Supreme Court decision, U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud ruled "corporations with foreign shareholders retain the First Amendment rights identified by Citizens United." In a statement, Chamber President Doug Loon said the decision is a significant victory for the Minnesota business community.
A clash could be coming between President Donald Trump's administration and the judiciary. Several Trump executive orders have been challenged in court and judges have put some of them on hold. Other judicial rulings have attempted to curb access to sensitive payment systems or slow a cutdown in the federal workforce. Trump allies, including Elon Musk and Vice President JD Vance, are suggesting they might not abide by every ruling on every matter . With leaders in Congress nodding along with most of the Trump administration's actions, many hoping to stop Trump's moves have looked to the courts. But open defiance of rulings would escalate things and potentially bring about a constitutional crisis. Expect some of the legal fights to land before a U.S. Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority that includes three justices put there by Trump in his first term.
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar was on national television Sunday defending the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, as it faces near elimination. Omar was on CBS's "Face the Nation." USAID has been at the center of a controversy over whether the United States should help other countries with foreign aid. Omar, a Democrat who represents Minneapolis in Congress, said foreign aid hasn't been popular in the U.S. because people don't know what it does. "A lot of people hear the millions, billions and they don't fully have a concept of what that actually means, the lives it touches, the soft power that we have as a country, how it keeps us competitive around the world, how it buys us good will," she said. The Trump administration had given thousands of overseas workers under the agency's umbrella 30 days to return to the United States, but a judge blocked that order on Friday.
U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said she'll make a definitive decision "soon" that will firm up or back away from her "plan" to seek another term in 2026. Smith was one of the guests on last week's "Politics Friday." "I've had a lot on my mind the last week or so, so that is the plan and I will be making my final decisions very shortly," said Smith, a Democrat who has won two prior races after filling the seat in 2018 through a vacancy appointment. "I suspect that a 2026 midterm election will very, very good for Democrats. I think that people are going to be rejecting this kind of (Trump) leadership." Most of the interview was about her view toward the blistering pace of actions by the new Trump administration. She spent time criticizing the defacto top adviser, Elon Musk. And she talked about what Democrats can and should be doing to counter or raise public concern about what has taken place so far. Later in the show, we talked to Republican Rep. Paul Torkelson and DFL Rep. Zack Stephenson about how they'll work together in crafting a House budget plan, about their "no-shenanigans handshake" and about Torkelson's ample chainsaw collection.
Finally, say goodbye to another football season and hello to baseball. Minnesota had a presence at the Super Bowl — even if not on the field. Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer hung with President Donald Trump in a Superdome suite. And Jeff Johnson, the 2014 and 2018 GOP nominee for governor, made an appearance in a Google ad where he spoke about a Plymouth service dog nonprofit, Can Do Canines, and the way AI is assisting in that. He joked to me that it probably cost more than his ads he ran in both his gubernatorial runs combined, although sine he wasn't paying the bills, we'll never know. | 
