The time has finally come.

A couple of weeks after being drafted by the Vikings, or signed as undrafted free agents, the 2024 rookie class will descend upon TCO Performance Center in Eagan for the weekend, starting on Friday. It will serve as a chance for many players to make a first impression on the coaching staff as they look to carve out a niche for themselves heading into next season.

Though the tandem of quarterback J.J. McCarthy and edge rusher Dallas Turner will arrive with the most hype after being selected in the first round of the draft, there are a handful of other names worth following when the Vikings hit the practice field this weekend.

Here are five players to keep an eye on at Vikings rookie minicamp:

J.J. McCarthy

This is a no-brainer. As the only quarterback the Vikings have ever drafted in the Top 10 in franchise history, McCarthy will be under a microscope every time he throws a pass on the practice field. It will be interesting to see how he looks his first time taking live reps with the Vikings. There’s going to be a learning curve for him as he acclimates to the next level. That said, McCarthy played in a pro-style offense at Michigan in college, and thus, could be more advanced in his development than some might think. His performance at rookie minicamp under the tutelage of head coach Kevin O’Connell will give a good indications where he stands.

Dallas Turner

Just go ahead and look up some highlights of Turner rushing the passer at Alabama in college. He was a dominant force in every situation, equipped with the speed to win on the outside, as well as the power to win on the inside. Though he won’t get to showcase his full repertoire this weekend, Turner should be able to give a glimpse into the dominant player he could become soon enough.

Khyree Jackson

It’s going to be fun to see how imposing cornerback Khyree Jackson looks in person. He is listed as having a 6-foot-4, 195-pound frame, which fits the mold of what defensive coordinator Brian Flores is looking for in a cornerback. It’s not hard to imagine Jackson developing into a solid player on the outside. How fluid is he going to be at his size? That’s the main question that needs to be answered.

Levi Drake Rodriguez

As far as excitement level goes among the rookie class, defensive tackle Levi Drake Rodriguez is up there simply because he is an unknown. There aren’t a ton of highlights of Rodriguez because he played his college ball at Texas A&M Commerce. He clearly has a passion for the sport, and that should serve him well as he tries to make the team. No doubt a good showing this weekend will put him on the right track.

Gabriel Murphy

The comparisons started as soon as edge rusher Gabriel Murphy signed as an undrafted free agent. The thought was that he could follow a similar path to that of linebacker Ivan Pace Jr., who signed as undrafted free agent ahead of last season and turned himself into an unquestioned star for the Vikings. The biggest knock on Murphy coming out of college was the fact that he lacked the prototypical arm length of an edge rusher. He has a chance to prove the doubters wrong starting now.

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By FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mike Johnson’s job isn’t safe yet.

In a stunning show of unity in the often divided House, Democrats joined a majority of Republicans on Wednesday to save the GOP speaker from an attempt by fellow Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to remove him from his post.

But while Democrats in the minority threw the Louisiana congressman a life raft by voting on his side, they made clear they might not do so again. That means the threat for Johnson still lingers as Greene and other lawmakers can at any time call up another motion to oust him.

The episode highlights the increasingly precarious situation for Johnson, who faces the same conservative forces that took down his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, but with an even smaller majority that has forced him to continuously rely on Democratic support to carry out the most basic functions of legislating. Republicans control the House by the barest of margins, 217-213.

Here’s what to know about how the House can remove a speaker and what’s ahead for Johnson:

WHAT IS A MOTION TO VACATE?

The current rules of the House allow any lawmaker — Democrat or Republican — to put forward a resolution declaring the speaker’s chair vacant. If the House approves the resolution, it has the effect of ousting the speaker from office.

The “motion to vacate” has existed for most of congressional history. But it had never been deployed successfully until last October when a rebel band of Republicans joined with Democrats to oust McCarthy as speaker.

McCarthy’s removal came, in part, as the result of the concessions he was forced to make to win the speaker’s gavel in the first place. Among the concessions was agreeing that a motion to vacate could be triggered by a single member — the threshold that historically has been the norm, but that had been abandoned by Democrats in the majority.

Proponents of allowing a single lawmaker to file the motion said it promotes accountability, noting its long history in the House.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

At any point, a member of the House can introduce a privileged resolution — a designation that gives it priority over other measures — to declare the office of the speaker of the House of Representatives vacant.

Once the motion is introduced, the lawmaker sponsoring it can request a vote on the House floor. Such a request forces House leaders to take action within two legislative days.

But there are procedural motions that members of either party can make to slow or stop the process — and that’s exactly what happened when Greene called for a vote Wednesday on removing Johnson.

The No. 2 House Republican, Steve Scalise, immediately made a motion to “table” Greene’s resolution, which defeats it if successful. The vote to table was fast and overwhelming, with lawmakers voting 359-43 to defeat her effort and keep Johnson in the job.

WHO IS TRYING TO OUST JOHNSON AND WHY?

The speaker had fought for months to navigate an increasingly fractured Republican conference, which has — in effect — been operating in the majority in name only since January 2023.

Republicans unanimously chose Johnson late last year to replace McCarthy after several candidates for the job failed to gain enough support. His conservative bent was seen as a welcome departure by the most extreme members of his party who had accused McCarthy for years of being too moderate.

But Greene, who became a McCarthy ally late in his tenure, has been skeptical of Johnson’s speakership from the beginning. While she criticized her fellow far-right colleagues for toppling McCarthy, she had warned Johnson for months that she would try to remove him in a similar fashion if he were to push ahead with a package to support Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion.

“He should not bring funding for Ukraine,” Greene had told reporters.

But Johnson did just that last month when he advanced a foreign aid package for Ukraine to the floor where it was overwhelmingly approved and signed into law.

Other Republicans are also critical of Johnson, including Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who was a co-sponsor of Greene’s resolution to oust him.

COULD THERE BE ENOUGH VOTES TO OUST JOHNSON?

It remains to be seen, but the vote Wednesday showed Johnson’s job is far from safe.

Without Democratic help, Johnson could have easily been ousted. Eleven Republicans voted to proceed with Greene’s effort, more than the number of GOP votes it took to oust McCarthy last fall. Seven Democrats voted present and all but 32 of the others voted with Republicans to block the effort to oust him.

“Our decision to stop Marjorie Taylor Greene from plunging the country into further chaos is rooted in our commitment to solve problems,” Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said after the vote.

Asked what they might do if there were another attempt to oust the speaker, Jeffries said, “Haven’t given it a thought.”

Some Republicans are frustrated by the threats to Johnson and were dismissive of Greene. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., said of those trying to remove the speaker, “They’re pretty good at getting attention, but they have not been recognized for their ability to get things done.”

He said if they keep pushing to oust the speaker, “I think you can expect more of the same: Failure.”

IF JOHNSON IS OUSTED, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT?

The speaker of the House, under the rules of the chamber, is required to keep a list of individuals who can act as speaker pro tempore in the event a chair is vacated. The list, which is oddly written by the sitting speaker at any given time, remains with the House clerk and would be made public if the speakership were vacant.

The first person on that list would be named speaker pro tempore and their first order of business would be to hold an election for a new speaker. The House then would vote as many times as it took to elect a speaker.

In the case of McCarthy, the role of speaker pro tem fell to his close confidant Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., the chair of the House Financial Services Committee. He was in the role for three weeks, until Johnson’s election.

___

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Kevin Freking and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.

Tenants who believe they may be covered by New York’s new Good Cause Eviction Law can plug in their current rent to see the maximum rent that would be deemed reasonable. Anything above that, the landlord could have to justify in court.

When it comes to New York’s newly-minted Good Cause Eviction Law, there are a lot of unknowns.

In general, covered tenants in New York City should be able to stay in their apartments from year to year without fear of sudden upheaval, so long as they’ve kept up with their rent and lease terms. Tenants can also dispute rent hikes above a certain level—this year, 8.82 percent—though landlords can try to justify larger increases in court.

The law, which serves market-rate tenants, is also rife with carve outs, including a 30-year exemption for buildings constructed since 2009. Owner-occupied buildings with up to 10 units are also exempt, as are buildings owned individually or collectively by “small landlords,” who have a stake in no more than 10 apartments statewide, potentially across multiple properties. 

Tenants whose rent exceeds a specific threshold are also excluded from the protections. The threshold is pegged to the local Fair Market Rent, and varies based on apartment size. This year, it’s $5,846 for a studio, $6,005 for a one-bedroom, $6,742 for a two-bedroom, $8,413 for a three-bedroom, and $9,065 for a four-bedroom. 

Adding another wrinkle, even though the law took effect April 20, landlords aren’t obligated to notify tenants if they’re covered by Good Cause—in paperwork accompanying leases and housing court or rent increase notices—until Aug. 18. 

In an effort to help New Yorkers navigate at least part of this complicated terrain, City Limits has created a simple rent calculator. Tenants who believe they may be covered by Good Cause can plug in their current rent to see the maximum increase that would be deemed reasonable under the law. 

Anything above that, your landlord may have to justify in court. Just be mindful of the high-rent threshold—surpass it, and you’re out of luck. 

Ellen Davidson, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society, offered a scenario in which the tool might come in handy: a tenant lives in a building with at least 11 units that predates 2009 (you can check that here), and is notified of a rent increase over 8.82 percent, which is 5 percent plus the change in the regional Consumer Price Index (CPI) from 2022 to 2023.  

“Those people don’t have to do a lot of research into their landlords to figure out if they’re covered,” she said. “The first thing I would do is just write back to your landlord and say, ‘Hey, there’s this new law, I’m covered by it, this rent increase is too high.’”

Tenants in smaller buildings may have a harder time determining their landlord’s eligibility, given the prevalence of Limited Liability Company, or LLC, ownership. But Davidson suggested JustFix’s Who Owns What tool as a way to start exploring a landlord’s holdings. 

She also acknowledged that landlords may not be responsive to direct communication, and warned that tenants should be prepared to be sued for eviction, landing the dispute in a borough-based housing court. New York City’s Right to Counsel law is supposed to provide free lawyers to low-income tenants, but it’s currently stretched thin. 

“To the extent that you are faced with a very big rent increase that you think is unreasonable, and your landlord won’t speak to you, one thing you might do is put aside that additional money, so that when you go to court, if you do not win the case, you have the ability to pay your landlord,” she added. “That is, you know, the safest way to do things. Which not everybody can do.” 

The Good Cause law is also written in such a way that landlords can potentially justify an increase in excess of 8.82 percent. (Homes and Community Renewal will have to update that percentage threshold next year, on or before Aug. 1, 2025, reflecting the CPI change from 2023 to 2024 but not exceeding 10 percent.)  

Courts can consider “all relevant facts,” the law states, including property taxes, 

fuel, insurance and maintenance costs. Landlords can also point to “significant repairs” they’ve done to the building—non-cosmetic work like electrical and plumbing replacements and lead or asbestos removal. 

The law seeks to exclude bad faith attempts to raise the rent, stating that the work can’t stem from the landlord failing to maintain their building properly. 

That means it’s in a tenant’s best interest to keep a close eye on the conditions in their building, according to Davidson. “Is there a leak that starts small and they call their landlord and three months later their landlord comes and patches it up?” she said. “That’s obviously not how you handle a leak.” 

Lisa Faham-Selzer, who represents landlords at the firm Kucker Marino Winiarsky & Bittens LLP, predicted that this part of the law will be “heavily litigated.” 

“Let’s say I want to raise the rent 10 percent and they [the tenant] are saying that’s unreasonable,” she said. “And I say this is not unreasonable because I did all of this work and the building has not been in complete disrepair.” 

Rather than go to court, landlords might just increase rents by 8.82 percent across the board, she added: “I feel that every landlord is going to be compelled to raise the rent to the max threshold, right? Because what if next year it’s lower?” 

Faham-Selzer likened the Good Cause law to the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA), a multi-part 2019 law that made it more difficult for landlords to exit rent stabilization, a separate long standing regime that puts a hard cap on annual rent adjustments for about 1 million New York City apartments. 

“We litigated the HSTPA to figure out what the law should be interpreted as, we’re still litigating it to this day, and I think the same thing is going to happen here,” she said. 

In the meantime, she’s urging her clients to inform tenants of their Good Cause coverage status, before the notice rules officially kick in: “If my clients are drafting leases today they’re adding them onto leases today.”

Tenants who believe they are covered by Good Cause but are nervous about how to proceed should start talking to their neighbors, said Esteban Girón, an organizer with the Crown Heights Tenant Union. 

“When you’re acting as one unit, just like if you’re doing collective bargaining with labor [unions], you can share information,” he said. “You can have a lawyer come in and talk to your whole building.” 

This moment is both exciting and frustrating for tenants who can now fight large rent hikes for the first time, according to Girón. 

“I think there’s potential for a sort of budding of a new phase of the tenant movement,” he said. But facing a large rent increase that’s “presumed” unreasonable—even though a judge could be convinced otherwise—isn’t as reassuring or straightforward as an explicit maximum allowable adjustment, which is what stabilized tenants get. 

The language in the law—“it shall be a rebuttable presumption that the rent… is unreasonable”—just “doesn’t sound as sexy as a right,” Girón said.

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Emma@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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