It's Just Politics

Join Michigan Public’s It's Just Politics team Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta and a panel of guests, as they dig into what’s happening at the state capitol and take your questions about Michigan politics.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan lawmakers have one week to come up with a budget deal. If they don’t there will be partial state government shutdown. What do voters think about the stalemate in Lansing? And who will they blame if there’s a shutdown? Pollster Richard Czuba, founder of Glengariff Group, has answers.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer warns that the budget deadlock at the state Capitol will worsen Michigan’s economic uncertainty caused by federal tariffs. With just two weeks until a possible state government shutdown, what could a shutdown mean for Michigan’s already shaky economy?

A judge dismisses charges against Michigan’s 2020 so-called ‘fake electors’, the ‘nine bills’ lawsuit between the state House and state Senate is back in court, and three weeks before a possible partial government shutdown, there’s no obvious signs of a budget deal in Lansing.

With exactly four weeks before a possible partial state government shutdown, the question hanging over Lansing remains: where do things stand in state budget negotiations?

There is a huge decision facing Michigan voters in an already huge 2026 election: whether to vote to convene a constitutional convention (also known as a “Con-Con”) to rewrite the state’s entire constitution. The implications are enormous. What you need to know.

A proposal to delay paychecks for future governors and legislators if the state budget is not wrapped up by the July 1 legal deadline failed Thursday in the state House. Plus, Detroit Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Mike Duggan has a good week.

A live, onstage conversation with Pete Buttigieg, former South Bend mayor, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, and current Michigan resident. The former Democratic presidential candidate discusses the deep divisions in American society, the future of the Democratic Party, and the enormous - and not necessarily comprehensible - impact of artificial intelligence. Plus, his political future.

We are into week six of seemingly stalled budget negotiations in Lansing. Six weeks since K-12 schools, higher ed and some local governments started their fiscal years without knowing how much state money they’ll receive. Just what’s going on at the state Capitol?

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.