Hi! You're reading the It's Just Politics newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the It's Just Politics podcast for all the political news you need each week.
Republican House Speaker Matt Hall is trying to make “The Triangle” a thing.
As legislative Democrats call on Hall to get to the table to pound out a budget deal, the GOP leader wants to make it a smaller table.
This week, he called for limiting the negotiations to Whitmer, himself and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, a Democrat – a group he’s coined “The Triangle.”
It’s a play on Lansing slang for a meeting of the four legislative leaders plus the governor long dubbed “The Quadrant.”
Hall’s “Triangle” would cut out the Senate Republican and House Democratic minority leaders.
At a press conference Wednesday, Hall then went a little further and said why not leave the negotiating to just him and the governor. (“The Deuce?” “The Duo?” “The Doublet?” Send us your suggestions.)
“What I think would be really helpful is if the Democrats got behind Governor Whitmer and empowered her to lead them and we had more of a Democrat and Republican negotiation,” said Hall (R-Chutzpah).
“I give [Senate Minority Leader Aric] Nesbitt and his caucus a lot of credit. I mean those guys have had our back 100 percent …. So, the Republicans are unified and we can put forward one budget position and I think Democrats would be best served to iron out their differences, empower Governor Whitmer to lead… and we’ll have a budget done real fast.”
We have asked, but not gotten an answer from Democratic “Trianglers” Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks on Hall’s notion. Nor from Democratic House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri and Republican Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (who is running for governor) on the idea of being cut out of the deal-making and ceding their spots at the table to Hall and Whitmer.
In the meantime, Hall says he’s instructed House Republican budget subcommittee chairs to recalibrate spending plans based on reduced revenue projections due to the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The problem is there is no common understanding of how far-reaching the effects will be. As regular It’s Just Politics readers know, the non-partisan Michigan Citizens Research Council released a new report last week that says the first-year impact of the budget law adds up to a $1.1 billion hit on the Michigan budget.
Hall says he doesn’t trust the MCRC report and he’s tasked the House GOP budget chairs with using their own numbers to adjust budget plans for K-12 schools, colleges and universities, local governments and state departments. As regular It’s Just Politics readers also know, those entities are now five weeks into their new fiscal years with no idea what to expect in the way of state support.
One logical step would be to convene a Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference. That would give budget writers a common set of numbers agreed to by the state Treasurer and the House Fiscal Agency and Senate Fiscal Agency.
Hall seems intent on moving ahead with a unilateral House process without taking what’s typically a critical step toward finalizing the budget.
Maybe he’s holding out for making “The Triangle” a thing.
______________________
Have questions about Michigan politics? Or, just want to let us know what you want more of (less of?) in the newsletter? We always want to hear from you! Shoot us an email at politics@michiganpublic.org!
_______________________
-
Detroit voters chose City Council President Mary Sheffield and Pastor Solomon Kinloch Jr. to move forward to November’s general election in the race to become the city’s next mayor. Plus, a majority of local Michigan officials think the state is on the wrong track.
What we’re talking about at the dinner table
Detroit’s next mayor: Detroit primary voters chose City Council President Mary Sheffield and Pastor Soloman Kinloch Jr to move forward to November’s general election in the race to become the city’s next mayor. “Sheffield first was elected to the City Council in 2013 at age 26. She has been council president since 2022. Her father, Horace Sheffield III, is an activist and pastor of New Destiny Christian Fellowship church. If elected, she would be the first woman and the first Black woman to hold the role of Detroit mayor… Kinloch has been senior pastor at Triumph Church for about 27 years. The Detroit-based church has more than 40,000 members across a number of campuses. Kinloch also was an autoworker and member of the United Auto Workers union,” the Associated Press reports. The two are looking to take over the job from Mayor Mike Duggan who’s running as an independent in Michigan’s 2026 race for governor.
Whitmer back in DC: Governor Gretchen Whitmer made another trip to D.C. this week to meet with President Trump. “I told him and his team about the impact tariffs are having on Michigan’s economy, especially our auto industry, and harm Michigan will face due to changes in the Medicaid program, and ongoing recovery efforts following the ice storm in Northern Michigan this year,” Whitmer said in a statement released by her office on Tuesday. She said she asked the president for a three-year window to phase in the Medicaid cuts so the state could come up with a plan to manage the effects on 2.6 million Michiganders, including children, the elderly in nursing homes and people in rural areas who could lose access to health care providers. The governor said she also told Trump that tariffs levied on goods from Canada and Mexico would cause big problems for the auto sector. The governor also asked for help in finding a business to fill an empty manufacturing mega-site in Genesee County after Michigan failed to win a $63 billion semiconductor chip factory. The Democratic governor said she had no qualms about partnering with a Republican president with whom she once had a fractious relationship. “That’s why I’ve continued to go to Washington, D.C. to make sure that Michiganders are front and center when critical decisions are being made,” she said. “This year alone, we’ve secured major, bipartisan wins including a new fighter mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County, funding to protect our Great Lakes from invasive carp, and federal disaster support for communities in Northern Michigan impacted by historic ice storms.” Whitmer last visited the White House in April. The governor’s office said she also met Tuesday with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Tate drops: The candidate field is down by one in the crowded Democratic primary for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat. State Representative Joe Tate told the Associated Press this week that he is suspending his campaign, “to move ‘in a different direction of service.’” As the AP notes “he struggled to compete with the fundraising numbers put up by the three other Democratic candidates, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, state Senator Mallory McMorrow and public health official Abdul El-Sayed. The race is likely to be one of the most watched in 2026, as Republicans seek to defend their majority in the U.S. Senate.” The Detroit Free Press confirmed with Tate’s spokesperson that he “didn’t announce an endorsement in the race or share his future plans.”
_______________________
Yours in political nerdiness,
Rick Pluta & Zoe Clark
Co-hosts, It’s Just Politics
