Michigan Democrats, recently hailed as a model of electoral and legislative success, are ending their final days with full control of the state government, mired in division and outright rebellion that has stalled votes on key priorities.
Tensions came to a head Thursday when the state House’s top Democrat ordered absent members back and closed the doors, only to reverse course and end the year’s legislative session. The chaos erupted after a Democrat joined Republicans, leaving the House without enough members to hold votes.
“Everything that was on the agenda today in the House of Representatives is dead,” House Speaker Tem Laurie Pohutsky told reporters on Thursday. “And the 55 members who weren’t there should feel free to own it.”
The unrest and finger-pointing in the final days of the term underscore deep divisions within the Democratic Party over how to move forward after significant setbacks in November’s general election.
In addition to losing control of the state House, Democrats also watched President-elect Donald Trump carry Michigan toward another term in the White House and were regularly criticized for not meeting more often for a session earlier this year.
Two black Democrats were key to the walkout this week, saying they had lost confidence in the party’s attention to the needs of black voters.
“I think if these needs had been prioritized, we would not have seen what happened on November 6,” said Sen. Sylvia Santana, who boycotted Wednesday’s Senate session.
Detroit Democratic Rep. Karen Whitsett, who skipped both Wednesday and Thursday’s session, appeared Thursday with Republican Minority Leader Matt Hall and took shots at Democratic leadership, a sign of the growing unrest toward and within the leadership of the side.
Earlier this month, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a longtime Democrat, said announced he was running for independent governor in 2026in part because of a “partisan, toxic atmosphere that we have.”
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat in her second term, had also told leaders of both parties not to expect her to sign bills until her priorities were addressed first. Whitmer wants more funding for economic development projects and road repairs, according to a source who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.
And in a statement, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks said she is “deeply disappointed that the House of Representatives stopped short.”
“Frustrated” is too light a word to describe my dismay that the House of Representatives has failed to meet its obligations at this historic moment,” said Brinks, a Democrat from Grand Rapids.
Pohutsky said the House of Representatives has adjourned until Dec. 31, when the session is expected to formally end, effectively scrapping bills to extend public records requests to the governor’s office, ban ghost guns and protect reproductive health data .
Democratic House leadership consistently denied divisions in the party and blamed absent Republicans.
“The bare minimum they can do is show up,” Pohutsky told reporters before the House adjourned. “And I would say vote, but that’s between them and their voters.”
Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement Wednesday that Whitsett and Republicans’ absence from the House of Representatives was “criminal,” prompting a swift backlash from both sides of the aisle.
House Republicans left the session on December 13 saying they would not vote on anything unless it involved road funding and legislation that would address new minimum wages and paid sick leave. The caucus remained absent from the floor Wednesday and Thursday.
Republicans will regain control of the Michigan House in January, ending nearly two years of all-Democratic legislature.
“We’re going to communicate with the other side. We are going to treat them fairly,” said Hall, the new House majority leader. “If we treat the members of the other party with respect, we will never find ourselves in this situation, and that is what we want to do next year.”
