PAUL RAHE: Michigan Republicans No Longer Supine? “In the last couple of weeks, however, the Republicans seem to have caught fire. The local chambers of commerce are perturbed. Small business, which is the only reliable Republican constituency in Michigan, is imperiled. These folks really hate Gretchen Whitmer – and, as I have tried to spell out in posts here and here, they have grounds for their fury. . . . Republicans in the legislature are threatening to create an oversight committee to investigate the lockdowns; to repeal the 1945 Emergency Powers of the Governor Act, which conferred on the state’s chief executive almost dictatorial powers after the governor declared an emergency; and to amend the 1976 Emergency Management Act, which gave the legislature the right to make such a declaration, to reduce the period covered from 28 to 14 days. Negotiations are taking place as I write these words. The Republicans point to the 1976 act and contend that, if the state legislature does not approve an extension of the governor’s emergency powers by Friday, 1 May, they will evaporate. Governor Whitmer points to the 1945 act and claims that she can act unilaterally under that.”

That will go well.