Michiganders Deserve Better: Matt Hall Is Sabotaging the House on Purpose

and he is laughing while he is doing it. This week was one of the worst so far.

We elected leaders to fund our schools, fix our roads, and fight for working families — not to hold the state hostage over petty power games. While the state desperately awaits a crucial budget, Hall's focus appears to be squarely on maintaining power and punishing rivals, rather than delivering for Michiganders.

Inside the Michigan House: How Speaker Matt Hall Is Failing — and Bullying Lawmakers Who Refuse to Fall in Line

This week, Distill spoke with Michigan state representatives about the chaos playing out in the State House under Republican Speaker Matt Hall and what they described was nothing short of authoritarian.

Let’s start with the basics: the Legislature has missed the July 1 deadline to pass a state budget, breaking an 85-year record for inaction. Michigan public schools reopen in less than 30 days, and without a budget, they’re left in limbo. But instead of doing the work, House Republicans canceled Tuesday and Wednesday session, then reconvened on Thursday with no clear agenda and no intention of fixing the crisis.

What did they do instead?

They staged a day of pure political theater. Matt Hall demanded hearings on over 790 grant proposals, totaling $3.4 billion — all of which had already been submitted by lawmakers back in April. The data, letters, and supporting materials were already in the Speaker’s hands. There was no reason to hold committee. It was a stall tactic, plain and simple.

“It’s just another way of kicking the can down the road,” one lawmaker told us. “He wants to make it look like he’s being transparent and fiscally responsible, but it’s already too late.”

While the budget sat untouched, Hall brought two bills to the floor — including a cell phone ban bill (one of Governor Whitmer’s stated priorities) and a criminal justice bill from Rep. Sarah Lightner. But Hall didn’t even have the votes. Only 55 Republicans were present. Three were absent. Democrats refused to bail them out, especially after Hall had made it clear he didn’t need their cooperation. He said as much at a press conference.

But instead of accepting that his own party was divided, Hall threatened a democrat.

According to our sources, there was an attempt to coerce and bully Rep. Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn) into voting for the criminal sentencing bill he did not support. When he initially refused, he left the House floor, causing session to stall for nearly two hours. Eventually, he returned and voted nay. Immediately after his vote, the clerk read a letter from Hall removing Farhat from his committee assignment as Minority Vice Chair of Appropriations. It was a threat and Hall followed through.

While all of this unfolded, a representative we spoke with said Hall could be seen laughing from his desk, enjoying the chaos and the power plays.

“This is not why I ran for office,” one lawmaker told us. “We’re supposed to be here to serve people and he’s laughing while making them suffer.”

And that’s the real story here: Matt Hall isn’t governing. He’s playing games.

This isn’t just gridlock. It’s targeted obstruction. He’s sabotaging his own bills, then blaming Democrats. He’s using public committee assignments as weapons. And he’s leveraging personal humiliation and policy hostage-taking to control his own caucus — and punish anyone who dares to cross him.

Meanwhile, public schools are on the verge of cuts. Communities are waiting on funding. And the Speaker of the House is focused on political retribution and legislative stunts.

And that’s the real story here: Matt Hall isn’t governing. He’s playing games. He is throwing tantrums. This tweet from the Michigan Democrats says it all.

Every day that goes by without a budget is another reminder that Michigan isn’t suffering from gridlock — we’re being held hostage by a Speaker who’s more interested in control than compromise. We deserve better than this. Every Michigander does.

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