Welcome to the Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, Brew.
By: Lara Bonatesta
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Following boycott in tied chamber, Minnesota Republicans file recall petitions against state House Democrats
- A round-up of Trump’s executive actions on trade and tariffs
- Join the Ballotpedia Society today to help us keep making informed voting possible
Following boycott in tied chamber, Minnesota Republicans file recall petitions against state House Democrats
Over the past 111 years, there have been 186 recall attempts against state legislators. On Feb. 25, that number grew by 15.6% when the Minnesota Republican Party filed recall petitions against 29 Democratic representatives.
These petitions come after the Minnesota Republican Party announced plans on Feb. 4 to recall every state House Democrat for their three-week boycott at the start of the 2025 legislative session.
How we got here
Democrats lost their House majority in the 2024 elections after Republicans gained three seats, resulting in a 67-67 split chamber. As we mentioned in the Jan. 15 and Jan. 24 editions of The Brew, a vacancy in District 40B created a temporary 67-66 Republican majority at the start of the 2025 session.
Because a 68-member quorum is required for the House to conduct business, Democrats boycotted the beginning of the session, preventing the Republican majority from establishing chamber control. Because members would usually be sworn in at the start of the session, Democrats swore in their members at a private, off-site ceremony.
The Minnesota Republican Party launched a recall effort against all House Democrats for their roles in the boycott on Feb. 4. Lawmakers reached a power-sharing agreement on Feb. 5, and the boycott ended with House Democrats returning to the Capitol on Feb. 6. Under the agreement, Rep. Lisa Demuth (R) was elected speaker for two years, Republicans will chair committees unless there is a tie at which point the parties will share power, and Rep. Brad Tabke (D), who won re-election by 14 votes, retained his seat (among other terms).
The agreement did not require the state Republican Party to end the recall effort.
State GOP Chair Alex Plechash said, “We will continue the recall process to ensure there are consequences for the Democrats’ nonfeasance.”
After the state Republican Party announced the recall campaign, a representative for the DFL said, “The Republican recall effort is yet another attempt to create chaos and division to cover up their efforts to ignore Minnesota voters, steal elections they didn’t win, and seize control of the House.”
How recalls work in Minnesota
Minnesota is one of 18 states where state legislators can be recalled. It is also one of seven states where a state legislative recall petition cannot be approved for circulation unless it is established that the legislator engaged in certain types of conduct.
According to the Minnesota Constitution, recalls can be initiated on the grounds of malfeasance, nonfeasance, or serious crime. Republicans argue that Democrats’ private swearing-in ceremony constituted malfeasance, meaning an unlawful action committed in their duties as elected officials. They also argue that the Democrats’ boycott constituted nonfeasance, meaning the failure to perform their official duties.
The Minnesota Supreme Court is reviewing 29 recalls against Democratic legislators. This step in the recall process comes after the Minnesota Secretary of State certifies that a recall petition against an official has received the signature of 25 Minnesota residents who are eligible voters. The court will decide whether to dismiss the petitions or hold a public hearing to determine if grounds for recall are sufficient.
If the court decides the grounds for recall are sufficient, it will order the Secretary of State to issue a recall petition. Once a petition is issued, petitioners have 90 days to gather signatures equal to 25% of the votes cast for the office in the previous election. If the signatures meet the verification requirements, the petition is sent to the governor, and a recall election date is set. Click here to see how these requirements compare to those in other states.
Minnesota Reformer’s Joshua Spivak wrote that “there is a high likelihood of failure” for these recall petitions given the “very strict rulings by the court in the past” on recall petitions.
Ballotpedia identified 186 recall efforts against 168 state lawmakers from 1913 to 2024. During that time, 40 recalls made the ballot, and 22 state legislators were successfully recalled.
Ballotpedia covers recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices. A recall effort is considered official if the petitioning party has filed an official form, such as a notice of intent to recall, with the relevant election agency.
The chart below shows the number of officials who faced recall efforts from 2012 to 2024, the number of officials voters retained, and the number of officials who were removed from office.
Ballotpedia also maintains a list of notable state legislative walkouts. That information can be found here.
A round-up of Trump’s executive actions on trade and tariffs
One of the Trump Administration’s biggest priorities during its first few weeks in office has been U.S. trade policy. Among the tools that the administration has used to advance its trade agenda is executive action. As of Feb. 24, President Donald Trump (R) had signed six executive orders, three memoranda, and two proclamations related to trade and tariffs. Since the beginning of his term on Jan. 20, Trump has signed 75 executive orders, 13 proclamations, and 21 memoranda in his second presidential term.
According to a January 2025 Congressional Research Service report, “Tariffs are now typically used selectively to protect certain domestic industries, advance foreign policy goals, or as negotiating leverage in trade negotiations.” Trump has said he intends to use tariffs to encourage and protect American manufacturing, to encourage countries to change their policies related to U.S. border security and drug trafficking, and to raise revenue for the federal government from foreign countries.
The University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business Rodney Sullivan criticized Trump’s trade policies, specifically those imposing tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, “These developments are bound to weigh on U.S. economic growth unless trade negotiations between these three trading partners move quickly to reverse the tariffs. Trade is not a large portion of U.S. nominal gross domestic product, but is interconnected with intermediate prices, labor costs and the revenues of domestic producers. Should the tariffs not be reversed in short order, the likely impact will be weakened economic growth for the U.S. and its trade partners, eliminated jobs and increased consumer costs.”
Here’s a look at some of Trump’s executive actions on trade and tariffs since the beginning of his second term:
- America First Policy Directive To The Secretary Of State
- In his inaugural address, Trump said, “I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.” Also, on Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order titled “America First Policy Directive To The Secretary Of State” and a memorandum titled America First Trade Policy, which said, “Americans benefit from and deserve an America First trade policy. Therefore, I am establishing a robust and reinvigorated trade policy that promotes investment and productivity, enhances our Nation’s industrial and technological advantages, defends our economic and national security, and — above all — benefits American workers, manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, entrepreneurs, and businesses.”
- Imposing Duties to Address the Situation at Our Southern Border, Imposing Duties to Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across Our Northern Border, Imposing Duties to Address the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People’s Republic of China
- As we mentioned earlier this month, Trump issued three executive orders on Feb 1, which impose tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China. Trump issued these orders using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA). According to the Congressional Research Service, the law “provides the President broad authority to regulate a variety of economic transactions following a declaration of national emergency.” On Feb. 3, Trump delayed the start date of the tariffs on Canada and Mexico from Feb. 4 to March 4.
- Adjusting Imports of Aluminum into The United States, Adjusting Imports of Steel into The United States:
- Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs:
- On Feb. 13, Trump signed a memorandum titled “Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs,” which said, “… my Administration will work strenuously to counter non-reciprocal trading arrangements with trading partners by determining the equivalent of a reciprocal tariff with respect to each foreign trading partner.”
- Defending American Companies and Innovators From Overseas Extortion and Unfair Fines and Penalties:
- On Feb. 21, Trump signed a memorandum titled “Defending American Companies and Innovators From Overseas Extortion and Unfair Fines and Penalties,” which said, “It is the policy of my Administration that where a foreign government, through its tax or regulatory structure, imposes a fine, penalty, tax, or other burden that is discriminatory, disproportionate, or designed to transfer significant funds or intellectual property from American companies to the foreign government or the foreign government’s favored domestic entities, my Administration will act, imposing tariffs and taking such other responsive actions necessary to mitigate the harm to the United States and to repair any resulting imbalance.”
On Feb 25, Trump signed an executive order directing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to launch an investigation into possible tariffs on copper.
In addition to our coverage of Trump’s actions on trade and tariffs, Ballotpedia provides extensive coverage of Trump’s executive actions on several other topics:
- The administrative state
- Education
- Energy and the environment
- Foreign policy
- Health
- Immigration
- Policing and criminal justice
- Technology
Here’s a comparison of how many executive orders Trump has issued on each of these topics:
For a comprehensive look at Trump’s executive orders and actions in his second term, click here. To learn more about the difference between executive orders and other presidential actions, check out our episode of On The Ballot from Jan. 14.
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