Republicans Sue To Kill Wisconsin 'Safer At Home' Extension

MADISON, WI — Republican lawmakers in the Wisconsin State Legislature have filed a lawsuit with the State Supreme Court Tuesday afternoon, seeking to block Democratic Gov. Tony Evers stay-at-home order extension, citing a legal overreach by the state's Department of Health Services.

Last week, Evers directed State Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm to extend the state's stay-at-home order from April 24 to May 27. News of the extension roiled lawmakers and resulted in at least one sizable protest in Brookfield over the weekend.

According to official documents, lawmakers filed their lawsuit against Andrea Palm, and fellow state health officials Julie Willems Van Dijk, and Nicole Safar with the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

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“The public outcry over the Safer at Home order continues to increase as positive COVID cases decrease or remain flat," Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said Tuesday afternoon in a joint statement with fellow Republican lawmakers. "There’s immense frustration regarding the extension, as it goes beyond the executive branch’s statutory powers. Wisconsinites are forced to sit by with no voice in the process. Other Midwestern states with more confirmed cases, like Ohio, have set firm dates to begin a phased reopening far earlier than the Evers administration."

Republican lawmakers are asking the conservatively-leaning State Supreme Court to prevent the extension of the stay-at-home order for six days, "to allow DHS sufficient time to promulgate a new emergency rule consistent with Wisconsin law," according to the suit. Even with liberal justice Jill Karofsky's victory over conservative incumbent Daniel Kelly on April 7, the court would still be 4-3 in favor of conservative justices.

In their lawsuit, which you can read in full here, Republican state legislators claim that an "un-elected, unconfirmed cabinet secretary has laid claim to a suite of czar-like powers—unlimited in scope and indefinite in duration—over the people of Wisconsin."

Legislators claim Secretary Andrea Palm's stay-at-home order "has no expiration date—making it greater than even the Governor’s emergency powers."

“The governor has denied the people a voice through this unprecedented administrative overreach. Unfortunately, that leaves the legislature no choice but to ask the Supreme Court to rein in this obvious abuse of power," Vos said in the statement. "Wisconsinites deserve certainty, transparency, and a plan to end the constant stream of executive orders that are eroding both the economy and their liberty even as the state is clearly seeing a decline in COVID infections.”

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