Michigan’s lame duck legislative session may be over, but the Democratic infighting over the chaotic close definitely is not.

Michigan House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, adjourned the lower chamber on Thursday after he was unable to secure the 56-member quorum needed to approve legislation, and he set Dec. 31 as a final session day before a Republican majority takes over next month.

Republicans and Rep. Karen Winsett, D-Detroit, walked out of the legislative session in disgust the week prior over divisive Democratic priorities in the waning days of the lame duck session that Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash, D-Hamtramck, told WKAR’s Tim Skubick is now a dead duck.

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“I think the appetite (for returning before the end of the year) has waned,” Aiyash said, “and I would imagine that all the priorities that were on the agenda this week have now died.”

Rep. Josh Schriver, R-Oxford, celebrated that reality with a post to X Saturday that outlines those priorities. The progressive wish list of legislation included bills to give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, a national popular vote interstate compact, vaccine mandates, multiple gun control measures, fines for election misinformation, charter school restrictions, millions for tampons in boys school restrooms, and mandated lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation in sex education classes, among others.

“As the 2023-2024 Michigan Legislature has come to an official end,” Schriver wrote, “I thank every Michigan resident who worked with me to FULLY DEFEAT some of the worst bills ever proposed this week.”

Democrats, meanwhile, are still pointing fingers, many of them at Tate.

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“I think what would have been helpful, what we’ve heard consistently from members of our caucus, is had there been a laid-out plan of what could have been done and how consensus could have been reached on certain issues – and those conversations were happening amongst colleagues – we may have been able to reach a point where we could have negotiated,” Aiyash said. “There needed to be more of that, I think, a little bit earlier.”

“It was not easy to bring people together and say all 56 (Democrats) can come to an agreement on one particular issue, but there should have been a little more engagement,” he said.

Aiyash also alleged ignorance about the legislative process from first-year Democrats was a problem, singling out Rep. Peter Herzberg, D-Westland, as an example.

“That’s an example of a colleague that asked for something that was already in the bill, but was not serious about engaging,” he said. “So, if someone is unwilling to come to the table and have discussions, then it just doesn’t make any sense.”

Aiyash, who manages the majority’s legislation on the House floor, told WKAR’s Off the Record he’s not sure why some bills did not receive votes, such as a bill to expand Freedom of Information Act requests to the governor and legislature.

“There was an appetite to get that done. Why we wouldn’t move it before the election is still not clear to me,” he said. “As you all know, the speaker of the house sets the agenda and decides what can and cannot move.”

Aiyash ultimately blamed last week’s meltdown on a confluence of factors that included political “gridlock, coupled with a lot of unskilled legislators.”

“We had colleagues who were choosing to be obstructionists,” he said, pointing to Herzberg and Winsett. “I think there’s some House Democrats who are unserious about the job.”

Most of the folks elected to represent their constituents in the lower chamber have a different perspective, alleging Democrats were pushing divisive legislation over bills to address the imminent collapse of Michigan’s restaurant industry, address the state’s $3.9 billion annual road funding shortfall, and other more pressing issues.

Republican “Speaker-elect Rep. Matt Hall has some great bills,” said Winsett told Gongwer News Service. “Tip wages, roads, sick leave … water affordability, public safety trust. I will not let my constituents down. Friday, I took a stand. The bills that were being pushed through only hurt Michiganders. I am proud to take a stand when no one else will. I wish my colleagues stood up for their communities and said enough is enough.”

Hall, R-Richmond Twp., and other Republican representatives held a series of press conferences last week to explain why they refused to vote on the lame duck Democratic agenda, and highlight top priorities for 2025.

“We don’t want to let violent criminals out of prison, which is what Democrats are proposing. We don’t want corrections workers to have to force prisoners to register to vote, we don’t want to kill charter schools, we don’t want to create a confusing regulatory nightmare in every different district across our state with crazy labor policies from community to community,” Hall said. “We want to save our restaurant industry, we want to protect workers’ earned sick leave, and we want to fix our roads.”

Tate defended his leadership amid the chaos at the Capitol, alleging Democrats “wouldn’t have gotten the things done we’ve gotten done if I weren’t in charge.”

“We are working to provide real results for Michiganders and delivering thoughtful and meaningful bills to the governor’s desk for her signature,” Tate wrote in a statement to Crain’s Detroit Business.

Whitmer, meanwhile, did not publicly engage in the legislative meltdown, beyond a reported warning to Democrats she may not sign bills unless they send her real legislation that addresses the state’s economic development and road funding problems.

On Sunday, Big Gretch posted a video to X with the wives of Detroit Lions players baking cookies for veterans, prompting at least one Democrat to question why she’s not doing more to move her party’s agenda before it’s too late.

“What’s better than cookies, the holidays, and the @Lions?” Whitmer posted. “Roling up my sleeves with the Lions ladies to bring a little extra holiday cheer to our veterans!”

“What’s better?” state Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse City, fired back. “Taking our responsibility to 10m Michiganders seriously enough to show up for the final days of the Democratic trifecta. Ive been begging your team for you to call a joint mtg w/both caucuses since just after Trump own. We have unfinished business. Where are you?”