ST. PAUL–On Monday, the Minnesota House failed to achieve a quorum necessary to conduct business for the third week in a row.

Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska) said Monday’s session went exactly as expected. Secretary of State Steve Simon began the session. Following the pledge of allegiance, prayer and an acknowledgment that it was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, it was confirmed the House did not have the 68 House members needed for a quorum and Simon made a motion to adjourn the session until 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Torkelson said he is certain Republican House members will be present for Tuesday’s session but was uncertain when their DFL colleges would join. From the first day of the legislative 2025 session, all 67 Republicans in the Minnesota House have been present, but zero Democratic candidates have attended. The Democratic House members have boycotted the house until a power-sharing deal is negotiated.

Following the election in November it was believed the House would be evenly split 67-67 between House GOP and DFL. A plan was in place to have a power-sharing agreement, but the DFL held that the District 40B seat was vacated after it was learned Curtis Johnson did not meet residency requirements for that district. A special election will be called in March to fill the seat. It is expected a DFL candidate will win a seat returning the House to a 67-67 tie, but until then, GOP House members have a slight majority and intend to use this temporary majority to appoint a Republican speaker of the house and hold committee hearings.

Republicans argued that with District 40B vacant, there were only 133 House members and the quorum needed was 67. On the first day of the session, Republicans did elect Rep. Lisa Demurth (R-Cold Spring) as speaker and begin holding committee hearings, but this work was voided Friday following a decision from the Minnesota Supreme Court.

The court ruled that 68 House members need to be present to constitute a quorum. The quorum clause requires a majority of the total number of seats to present for a quorum. Under current statute, the total number of seats in the Minnesota House of Reps is 134 meaning a minimum of 68 is needed.

Over the weekend leaders in the GOP and DFL have been in conversations on how to proceed with the session, but no agreement was reached at the start of Monday’s session.

“The Supreme Court has not given us a way to resolve this,” Torkelson said. “The DFL will not show up to work. I wish they would.”

Torkelson said the DFL is effectively holding the house hostage from working. His priority for the session was working to prevent a $5 billion deficit forecast for the 2028-2029 biennium.

“There is a deficit coming,” Torkelson said. “It is not until the next biennium, but we want to start dealing with it now. The sooner we start that work the better.”

Torkelson was appointed chair of the Ways and Means Committee, which is responsible for creating the state budget in the House and for setting how much money each of the finance committees can spend.

The $5 billion deficit is based on a November forecast from the Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) office. Another forecast was anticipated for February. Torkelson said budget work for the session would be based on this February forecast, but it was announced Monday it could be delayed until March. MMB uses national data to calculate the forecast, but there is a delay in the federal numbers.

However, it remains unclear if session work will begin within the next month.

“The real bottom line is the DFL failed to show up again,” Torkelson said. “The math is pretty simple. We have 67 they have 66. It is not our fault Johnson did not meet residency requirements for that district.”

Torkelson said Republicans would continue to show up for sessions. He believes it is possible some of Gov. Tim Walz staff will agree to hold informational meetings with committee members to begin to start work on the budget.