Michigan state House Speaker Matt Hall and Rep. Alabas Farhat take a picture on Jan. 14, 2025 | Anna Liz Nichols
The leader of the Michigan House Democratic caucus asked Republican leadership to reinstate state Rep. Alabas Farhat of Dearborn to the chamber’s appropriations committee after a political falling out saw him ousted, but in a letter sent Monday, House Speaker Matt Hall said that was out of the question.
Farhat was the minority vice chair on the powerful House Appropriations Committee until late last month when House Republicans failed to muster enough votes to pass the chamber’s version of a school cell phone ban and major changes to life-without-parole sentencing guidelines for 19- and 20-year-olds.
Hall, a Republican from Richland Township, was adamant in public statements following the vote that he had deals with House Democrats to push the bills across the finish line in a bipartisan fashion, only to have those deals broken when every House Democrat voted against the measures.
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The fallout from the cell phone ban bill, sponsored by state Rep. Mark Tisdel (R-Rochester), has given way to another battle of wills between the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-led Senate. It also resulted in Hall kicking Farhat off his seat on the appropriations committee, further deepening the chasm between minority Democrats and the leaders of the House GOP.
Hall said weeks ago that he was interviewing replacements for Farhart, but Puri had asked Hall to bring the Dearborn representative back into the fold.
In a letter sent to Puri on Monday, Hall punted that idea square across the playing field.
“Representative Farhat has demonstrated an inability to represent your caucus and work in good faith to pass key, bipartisan legislation and a school budget that prioritizes students over special interests,” Hall said of his reasoning. “This appointment is arguably the most important role for any House Democrat during this period of divided government. It’s vitally important that it is filled with someone who can help Governor Whitmer and I deliver a final budget by September 30th.”
Hall reiterated that he was interviewing and speaking with Democratic members, seeking a replacement who “demonstrates the ability to secure buy-ins from your caucus when making commitments.”
“If you would like to recommend another member who can represent House Democrats in this position, I will take it into consideration,” Hall said, before recounting his side of the story on why Farhat was ejected. “The events leading up to Representative Farhat’s removal last week are clear to us all. He was planning to support the commonsense legislation that was brought up for a vote – including priorities for the governor as well as Wayne County – but ultimately voted no after a long public argument with you and your leadership team.”
Hall said it was his view that Farhat’s “change of heart came even after we agreed to approve his amendment to one of the bills and agreed to pass other bills sponsored by his fellow Democrat members.”
“I have negotiated several successful deals while serving in the Legislature, and the governor and I have shown an ability to work together and forge a productive relationship. We know how this is supposed to work,” Hall added. “Legislative Democrats would benefit from following the lead of Governor Whitmer instead of clinging to the negative governing philosophies that resulted in yours being the only caucus in the nation to completely lose control of their chamber last year.”
The speaker had previously told Puri and House Democrat that he didn’t need them to pass a budget and that their participation depended on how much they were willing to engage with his caucus. Hall, however, certainly needed House Democrats at least twice to help get bills over the finish line, once on a failed attempt to amend the Senate’s education with one of several substitute bills, and the kerfuffle that saw the first go at a school cell phone ban shrivel in the House last month.
Still, Hall warned in his rejection letter that if Puri and House Democrats wanted to play a meaningful role in the remaining term, “it must begin by demonstrating a willingness to engage in good faith and prioritize real results over political maneuvering.”
“Michiganders expect their elected officials to lead with integrity, stand by their word, and put the public interest ahead of partisan gamesmanship,” Hall said.
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for Puri’s office told Michigan Advance that the minority leader’s and Farhat’s previous statements on Hall’s own maneuvering and perceived gamesmanship were evergreen.
Farhat, speaking to reporters after he was removed from the appropriations committee on July 24, called Lansing and the state of the Legislature “a f******* mess.”
“Unequivocally. That’s what it is,” Farhat said. “If you look at my legislative history as who I am … every single bill was bipartisan last year. [I am a person] who worked 19 substitutes to get Republicans the support of a Public Safety Trust Fund, who went out of his way to make sure we incorporated voices that mattered at the table, because I believe when you govern, you want to govern through consensus.”
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