A Minnesota Supreme Court ruling made clear that Republicans can’t run the state House on their own, but that doesn’t mean the chamber will get up and running right away.

They said that in the Minnesota House of Representatives, a quorum, as according to the Minnesota Constitution, based on the current total number of seats is 68.

The Minnesota Supreme Court issued an order Friday afternoon saying 68 members of the Minnesota House constitute a quorum, an opinion favoring House Democrats. The Friday, Jan. 24 order, which will be followed by an opinion,

A one-seat Republican majority in the Statehouse and a looming special election made for a tense start to a new era of divided government.

House Democrats boycotted the opening day of Minnesota’s 2025 legislative session Tuesday in an effort to stop Republicans from exploiting a temporary majority to advance their agenda, but GOP representatives forged ahead and named their leader as speaker in a move that Democrats rejected.

Minnesota's House Democrats boycotted the opening session of 2025 to prevent Republicans from using a temporary majority to elect a speaker.

Minnesota Democrats are trying to prevent Republicans from taking advantage of a temporary one-seat majority caused by a vacancy in a Democratic-leaning seat, and the chamber is expected to return to 67-67 after a special election.