Democratic state Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks was authorized by the Senate in a resolution to sue Republican House Speaker Matt Hall after he refused to send nine bills passed last session to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D-MI) desk. Joe Tate, the Democratic former House speaker, failed to forward the bills to Whitmer’s desk, allowing Republicans to halt them, pending a legal review, after taking control on Jan. 8.

The Michigan Senate can now sue in an attempt to force the state House to send the bills forward. Brinks argued in a speech on the Senate floor that the GOP’s delay was “illegal.”

“I hope to make it abundantly clear that we will not tolerate illegal, partisan games that evade our state constitution,” Brinks said.

“This can be avoided completely if the speaker does his job and sends these bills to the governor,” she added. “I hope he makes the right choice.”

The Washington Examiner reached out to Hall’s office for comment.

Republicans have argued that the fault lies with the Democrats for not sending the bills to Whitmer’s desk.

“They couldn’t do something as simple as take bills that were passed and carry them to the governor to get her signature. Now it’s the problem of the Republicans to try to solve this for the Democrats,” Republican state Sen. Jonathan Lindsey said. 

“I recommend that the Democrats, who do still have a majority here, instead focus their time on figuring out how to effectively legislate, and maybe think about the lessons that should have been learned from a session where Democrats literally failed the people of Michigan, couldn’t even conduct the basic duty of taking legislation that had been passed and delivering it to the governor for her signature,” he added. 

At a press conference of House Republican leaders, Michigan House Republican Vice Chairman Brian BeGole dismissed the bills.

“They were just radical,” he said, particularly focusing on one regarding criminal justice.

“The criminal group had the best representation right in Lansing under the Democrats. I mean, these are violent criminals … had better representation than the victims under the trifecta. So that ends here,” he added.

At the same press conference, Hall joked, “I was worried you were going to ask me about that,” when asked about the lawsuit.

He then rhetorically asked, “Is the Senate even in session?” arguing that the lawsuit controversy was intended as a distraction from real work.

Hall contrasted the Senate’s perceived inaction with the blitz of legislation from the House. He assured reporters that he was having the “best attorney in Lansing” explore the legality of what to do going forward, but that the Senate “has no role in telling the house what to do.”

He also offered rare praise for Whitmer, saying she was “showing some leadership,” but that Brinks was “just not, not doing that.”