{"id":7967,"date":"2026-01-07T11:59:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T16:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedems.com\/brinks\/?p=7967"},"modified":"2026-01-07T12:00:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T17:00:49","slug":"unconstitutional-republican","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/brinks\/2026\/01\/07\/unconstitutional-republican\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Leadership Praises AG Nessel\u2019s Swift Action on Unconstitutional Republican Clawback Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]

LANSING, Mich. (Jan.\u00a07, 2026) \u2014\u00a0Today, Attorney General Dana Nessel issued an official opinion declaring the maneuvers House Republicans used to\u00a0<\/span>take back critical funding for projects and programs across the state<\/a><\/u><\/span> illegal. Michigan Senate Democrats issued the following statements in reaction:<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids):<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/div>\n

\u201cNot only was the House Republicans\u2019 choice to steal money from the people of Michigan heinous, it was also unconstitutional. There\u2019s no surprise here \u2014 when they can\u2019t win in the Capitol, they try to bend the rules or break the law, hoping no one notices. But this time, people noticed. Pregnant and new moms who were counting on financial support noticed. Folks trying to combat the opioid epidemic noticed. And advocates for child abuse victims and those who help feed Michigan\u2019s seniors noticed. I hope the thousands of people who reached out in distress over the past month can breathe a little easier, knowing that this will not stand. This group of Republican legislators is unscrupulous, and everyone should demand better.\u201d<\/div>\n

Senate Appropriations Chair Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing):<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/div>\n

\u201cThe opinion issued today by the Attorney General is a lifeline for the countless non-profit organizations and local governments that have been left in limbo for weeks. I\u2019m talking about county land banks forced to halt affordable housing projects, community centers unable to answer questions from parents about whether their child\u2019s Head Start program will be open this week, and school districts scrambling to make their balance sheet whole \u2014 all because House Republicans made a unilateral decision about who is and isn\u2019t worthy of receiving contractually agreed upon state funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis\u00a0opinion\u00a0makes one thing clear: when you strip away the political theater and headlines,\u00a0House Republicans\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have a leg to stand on.\u00a0Their reckless\u00a0decision to block funding\u00a0to\u00a0these essential programs was not only\u00a0ruthless,\u00a0it\u00a0was\u00a0also\u00a0unconstitutional. As Senate Appropriations Chair, and as\u00a0a\u00a0legislator who\u00a0actually cares\u00a0about\u00a0delivering\u00a0on\u00a0the promises I made for the people\u00a0I\u00a0represent\u00a0and to all Michiganders,\u00a0we call for immediate release of the funds so these essential projects can move forward.\u201d\u00a0<\/div>\n

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LANSING, Mich. (Jan.\u00a07, 2026) \u2014\u00a0Today, Attorney General Dana Nessel issued an official opinion declaring the maneuvers House Republicans used to\u00a0take back critical funding for projects and programs across the state […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7638,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nSenate Leadership Praises AG Nessel\u2019s Swift Action on Unconstitutional Republican Clawback Scheme - Senator Winnie Brinks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Senate Leadership Praises AG Nessel\u2019s Swift Action on Unconstitutional Republican Clawback Scheme\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/brinks\/2026\/01\/07\/unconstitutional-republican\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senate Leadership Praises AG Nessel\u2019s Swift Action on Unconstitutional Republican Clawback Scheme\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Senate Leadership Praises AG Nessel\u2019s Swift Action on Unconstitutional Republican Clawback Scheme\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/brinks\/2026\/01\/07\/unconstitutional-republican\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Senator Winnie Brinks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-07T16:59:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-07T17:00:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/brinks\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/12\/Brinks-featuredimage-02-1024x768.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/brinks\/2026\/01\/07\/unconstitutional-republican\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/brinks\/2026\/01\/07\/unconstitutional-republican\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/brinks\/#\/schema\/person\/d70eb43c43b9d6128dac1bd664ee6466\"},\"headline\":\"Senate Leadership Praises AG Nessel\u2019s Swift Action on Unconstitutional Republican Clawback Scheme\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-07T16:59:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-07T17:00:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/brinks\/2026\/01\/07\/unconstitutional-republican\/\"},\"wordCount\":447,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/brinks\/2026\/01\/07\/unconstitutional-republican\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/brinks\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/12\/Brinks-featuredimage-02.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/brinks\/2026\/01\/07\/unconstitutional-republican\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/brinks\/2026\/01\/07\/unconstitutional-republican\/\",\"name\":\"Senate Leadership Praises AG Nessel\u2019s Swift Action on Unconstitutional Republican Clawback Scheme - 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