Breitbart News reports that negotiations with the GOP-controlled Michigan state Senate have fallen apart over extending Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s state of emergency, which expired Thursday. Majority Leader Mike Shirkey wondered, “How do you respond to somebody who just gives you the double middle finger?”
Shirkey offered to lengthen the state of emergency by two weeks “in exchange for a public promise by the governor to work with lawmakers on future orders,” but Whitmer rejected the compromise and told the media: “I’m not going to engage in political negotiations with anybody. We don’t have time for politics and games when people’s lives are on the line.”
A Shirkey spokeswoman said he was “extremely disappointed,” and “if there was any interest in his caucus working with the governor, it has evaporated.”
“How do you respond to somebody who just gives you the double middle finger?” Shirkey said, adding, “She’s made it very clear for a number of weeks now that she’s very comfortable being a dictator.”