On Tuesday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hit back on Republican politicians after they questioned her use of emergency powers during the coronavirus outbreak.

In a legal filing, Whitmer responded to the lawsuit, “This is more than a political bluff for a dissatisfied coequal branch of government holding a losing hand under applicable law.” The Democratic Governor lamented that “It is a power grab cloaked in the fineries of unfounded legal reasoning.”

The issue began when Whitmer wanted to extend the state emergency. Initially, the state’s lockdown was set to end on April 30. However, Whitmer requested an additional 28 days and refused to make any concessions, thereby asserting her full authority to the Republican-led Michigan legislature.

As a result, the state legislature voted to authorize Speaker Lee Chatfield to sue Whitmer for her “unchecked and undemocratic approach” in terms of using her emergency power. The House also refused to grant Whitmer’s demands to extend the lockdown.

Chatfield accused the governor of threatening the power of the legislature and decried of the glaring double standards. In his Twitter post, the Michigan House Speaker likened the state’s situation to a President claiming that they no longer need the Congress. Chatfield believed that despite the health and economic crisis, no one must rise above the law, and rather, work together to resolve the issues.

https://twitter.com/LeeChatfield/status/1258812730280226818?s=20

Based on the lawsuit, the state’s Republican politicians claim that Whitmer’s request to extend the lockdown undermined the lawmaking power of the state’s legislature. They also described Whitmer’s demands as the “new executive-domineered legal regime mandate.” They also believed that Whitmer’s use of emergency powers had “no discernible standards” or even “time limits.”

However, Whitmer’s over-arching power control is not only limited to the members of the state’s legislators but even to local business owners. Yesterday, The Patriot Hill reported how 77-year-old Karl Manke, owner of an Owosso barbershop stood against the governor’s strict stay-at-home orders. When Manke tried to re-open his barbershop, the State’s Attorney General decided to slap him on behalf of the MDHHS, for allegedly imposing “imminent danger” to local residents.

Fortunately, the judge refused to concede with Whitmer’s demands, claiming that the business owner did not violate any state orders.

Manke explained to ABC 12 that he was forced to open his business after he applied for unemployment benefits, but had been denied three times.

Even local residents had also protested against Whitmer’s authoritarian orders. In fact, hundreds of protesters swarmed at the Michigan Capitol, demanding the state’s immediate economic re-opening. One of the event organizers, Jason Howland, told Fox News 17 clamored that they wanted the state to re-open so that they can all go back to work. During the protest, Democratic Sen. Dayna Polehanki claimed that armed men had made their way to the Senate Gallery.

Oral arguments against Whitmer’s lawsuit will begin on Friday.