Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel thinks it’s “literally criminal” for lawmakers to refuse to vote on Democrats’ radical lame duck agenda, prompting blowback from both sides of the aisle.

Nessel took to X on Wednesday to blast House Republicans and Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, for refusing to come in this week after walking out on Friday in disgust over legislation rammed through by Democrats in the waning days of the lame duck session.

Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, also protested Democrats’ lame duck agenda this week, boycotting votes on Wednesday.

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“Article IV of the Michigan Constitution defies the role of the Legislature and how it is to be construed,” Nessel lectured. “The chief purposes of the Legislature are to enact new laws and amend or repeal existing laws.”

The AG pointed to MCL 750.458, which states “every willful neglect to perform” that doesn’t involve a special provision “constitutes a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or a fine of not more than $1,000.”

“What Rep. Whitsett and the MI House Republicans have chosen to do today is literally criminal,” Nessel wrote.

That implied threat is not sitting well with Democratic or Republican lawmakers, who fired back with a vengeance on Wednesday and Thursday.

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“Madam AG, surely you’re aware of the other relevant parts of our Constitution that require you to respect the separation of powers,” Rep. Alabas Farhat, D-Dearborn, posted to X. “If anything is criminal, it’s the willful neglect of THAT duty by threatening a member for advancing and defending the interests of her district.”

“It would be a Progressive Tough on Crime AG to call 2 Black women criminals for taking a principled stand on behalf of Black people,” Santana wrote in a Wednesday X post.

House Speaker Rep. Joe Tate on Thursday ordered sergeants to haul in lawmakers to vote on more than 100 bills pending on the what was last scheduled day of the current session, but he abruptly adjourned the lower chamber about an hour later when it was obvious no one was coming in, Bridge Michigan reports.

Without Winsett or Republicans, Tate is unable to muster the 56-member quorum needed to approve legislation, though he scheduled a final session day for 1:30 p.m., Dec. 31, according to The Detroit News.

Republicans take control of the House with a 57-53 majority on Jan. 8.

“The Attorney General’s threat to prosecute lawmakers for exercising their constitutional rights is baseless, reckless, and a blatant abuse of power. The Michigan Constitution gives the Legislature — not the Attorney General — sole authority over attendance and penalties. Her attempt to twist the law to intimidate legislators into submission is a dangerous overreach and a clear violation of the separation of powers,” state Reps. Andrew Fink, R-Adams Twp., and Graham Filler, R-Duplain Twp., wrote in a joint statement.

The legislators, both attorneys, described Nessel’s claims as “absurd.”

“If her logic held, even Speaker Joe Tate’s failure to hold regular session days this summer could be considered criminal. This is nothing more than a desperate political stunt to silence opposition and distract from her party’s failures,” the duo wrote. “Nessel is trying to weaponize her office and bully lawmakers into rubber-stamping Democrat leadership’s agenda, but we won’t back down.

“We will not be bullied,” the statement read. “House Republicans remain focused on fighting for policies that protect small businesses, tipped workers, and hardworking Michiganders.”

Speaker-elect Rep. Matt Hall, R-Richland Twp., explained in a series of press conferences since the Friday walkout that without legislative intervention, up to 60,000 Michigan workers in the restaurant and hospitality industry could face layoffs in early 2025, when the state will begin to transition tipped wage workers to minimum wage and implement requirements for paid sick leave.

Restaurant owners, servers, bartenders and others who earn more than minimum wage under the tipped wage system have for months called on the legislature’s Democratic majority to take action to mitigate the damage from the changes, which were approved by voters in 2018 and upheld by the Michigan Supreme Court this summer.

Instead, Hall noted, Democrats have remained focused on LGBTQ issues, early release for felons, driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, new labor laws, prisoner voting, and other “crazy, divisive issues.”

“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 at a Tuesday press conference.

“We want to save our restaurant industry, we want to protect workers’ earned sick leave, and we want to fix our roads.”

The speaker-elect has also put Nessel on notice the incoming Republican majority plans to investigate her office for leveraging taxpayer funding to pursue partisan lawfare on behalf of Democrats.

“House Republicans, we’re not going to be bullied by the attorney general. We’re a separate branch of government, and we’re the legislative branch, and under Michigan’s laws and constitution we have the authority to look at her budget. We set her budget,” Hall said.

“And her office is out of control, so there’s a lot of changes we’re going to have to make to her budget to stop her from going after innocent Michiganders time after time after time,” he said. “There will be oversight hearings, trying to get her to justify all of these radical things she’s doing.

“I mean, she’s spending your tax dollars to lose frivolous lawsuits. People should be outraged by that. So we’re not going to stand for it, we’re not going to be bullied by her, and it’s unbelievable she would even make that threat.”