Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion will step down as head of the Subcommittee on Ethics as he faces questions about a possible conflict of interest related to his legal work and funding bills he has sponsored.

Champion, a Minneapolis DFLer, said Monday that he will ask the ethics panel to advise on whether he had a conflict of interest “out of an abundance of caution.” During that phase, he’ll step aside as the committee’s chair.

The move comes after the Minnesota Reformer — an online news site that operates under the umbrella of the nonprofit States Newsroom — reported last week that Champion worked with a client, the Rev. Jerry McAfee, on a pro bono basis. McAfee’s nonprofit group 21 Days of Peace later received state grant funds from an account that Champion worked to authorize.

Undated courtesy photo from the 2025-26 legislative session of Minnesota state Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, DFL- Minneapolis. Champion is President of the Senate. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Senate)

Champion remains the chair of the Senate Jobs and Economic Development Committee, which helped craft the 2023 bill that included the grants.

The timing of the transaction is among the points of dispute. Champion told the Reformer that his legal work for McAfee and entities he helps run had concluded prior to the introduction of the bill to free up the grant money.

The Senate Rules Committee voted Monday to remove Champion from the ethics subcommittee and install Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, as the ethics subcommittee chair. The ethics panel could look into the situation and provide an advisory opinion.

“I think this is a prudent move, just to make sure that any investigation in any sort of ethics complaint that may be coming through the subcommittee, this would be handled in a very professional way,” said Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks.

The Senate Rules Committee approved the change in committee leadership on a bipartisan basis.

On the Senate floor Monday morning, Republicans asked whether Champion would potentially be asked to step down from his role as jobs committee chair, or as president of the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said those steps were not being considered at this time and the ethics committee assessment should move forward.

“I believe that the Subcommittee on Ethics will be convened soon, and they will deal and offer an advisory opinion, and that, I think should be the first and only step that this body takes with regard to the participation in the leadership of Sen. Champion and the roles in which he’s playing,” Murphy said.

Murphy and Champion left the Senate floor as Capitol reporters asked them to comment on the situation Monday.

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By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in New Mexico’s largest city, saying that a significant increase in crime in Albuquerque warrants the help of the New Mexico National Guard.

She signed an executive order, clearing the way for several dozen troops to be deployed along the historic Route 66 corridor starting in mid-May. The order also frees up state funds for the National Guard to use as part of the effort.

Training for 60 to 70 troops already is underway, the governor’s office said.

Governors typically call up the National Guard to help with natural disasters like wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. Governors in recent years also have ordered troops to address illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. In New York last year, the National Guard helped patrol the subway system following a series of high-profile crimes.

In New Mexico, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina called it a crucial time. Having the National Guard on the ground would free up officers to patrol the streets, he said.

FILE – Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina answers questions about an ongoing investigation in Albuquerque, N.M., Feb. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File)

The troops can help secure crime scenes, distribute food and other supplies to the homeless population throughout the corridor, transport prisoners, provide security at the courthouse and run drone operations used for locating suspects or assessing incidents, officials said.

It’s not the first time Lujan Grisham has tried to leverage state resources to address high crime rates in Albuquerque. In 2021, the two-term Democrat temporarily assigned state police officers to the area to help local authorities tackle vehicle thefts, drug trafficking, aggressive driving and the apprehension of violent criminals with felony warrants.

The year before, then-President Donald Trump sent federal agents, including Homeland Security officers, to Albuquerque as part of an effort to contain violent crime. He also targeted Chicago and other U.S. cities with the surge in resources.

Lujan Grisham’s latest emergency declaration follows a March 31 request by the police chief, who pointed to the fentanyl epidemic and an increase in violent juvenile crime.

Medina wrote that progress has been made in reducing shootings and aggravated assaults along what is known as Central Avenue but that more resources are needed to sustain the momentum.

The New Mexico Legislature adjourned last month, drawing much criticism from law enforcement leaders, prosecutors and even the governor for failing to address what many have described as an ongoing crime crisis in Albuquerque and other New Mexico communities.

Lujan Grisham has indicated she will call lawmakers back at some point for a special session to consider public safety proposals.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, a Democrat who plans to seek reelection, had vowed when he first took office in 2017 to build up the ranks of the police force. An issue for years, the department still struggles to reach its goal of 1,000 sworn officers.

The mayor told Albuquerque television station KOAT last month that the city had turned the corners on many of its crime issues, noting that it’s coming down from all-time highs. But he also acknowledged that more work needs to be done.

Statistics released by the police department in February showed an 11% decrease in aggravated assaults in 2024 compared to the year before, while the number of homicides decreased for the second straight year.

In his request to the governor, Medina said the reinforcement that the National Guard will provide is “critical to improving public safety and the quality of life for Albuquerque residents.”

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra will perform more than 80 concerts across eight Twin Cities venues in its newly announced 2025-26 season.

Season ticket packages are on sale now via thespco.org or by phone at 651-291-1144. Prices start at $16 per concert for adults and are free for children and students. Individual tickets, priced from $70 to $16, will go on sale in August.

“Our musicians, working in close collaboration with our interim artistic director Jonathan Posthuma, have constructed a wonderful and exciting season ahead,” said SPCO managing director and president Jon Limbacher in a news release. “In our musician-led artistic model, the musicians function as the music director and are involved in every aspect of the programming and what happens on stage. This is one of the reasons SPCO concerts are so incredibly and consistently dynamic.”

Highlights of the season:

As has been the case since the adoption of the SPCO’s musician-led artistic model in 2004, the upcoming season has been crafted by the musicians of the orchestra. They framed the season with this quote from composer Robert Schumann: “To send light into the depths of the human heart — this is the artist’s calling!”

Along with the music of Robert and Clara Schumann, Johann Sebastian Bach’s four orchestral suites serve as artistic points of connection throughout the season. They’ll be performed alongside newer works written by composers who were inspired by their music.

Orchestra members will lead and develop programming through the Artistic Vision Committee, a rotating group of SPCO musicians tasked with planning the season. The process includes selecting repertoire, shaping artistic interpretations, choosing artistic partners and collaborators and leading unconducted rehearsals and performances.

Artistic partners for the season include British Baroque specialist Richard Egarr, American pianist Richard Goode, South African cellist Abel Selaocoe, Hungarian conductor Gábor Takács-Nagy and German violist Tabea Zimmermann. Guest artists include pianist Jonathan Biss, violinist Alina Ibragimova, cellist Kiegan Ryan, conductor Mei-Ann Chen, former artistic partner Thomas Zehetmair and vocalists Mark Billy, Federico De Michelis and Roderick Williams.

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First launched during the 2022-23 season, the composer residency program Sandbox will continue with Gabriela Lena Frank as the featured composer-in-residence. She will workshop a new composition ahead of its premiere on Jan. 30.

In a move similar to Netflix or a monthly gym membership, the SPCO’s concert membership program gives access to all of the orchestra’s regular concerts throughout the season for a recurring monthly payment. There are three tiers that start at $5 per month for new members. The other options are $10 and $20 per month, with the latter offering more desirable seats.

Big law firms that have offended President Donald Trump for representing a cause or client he doesn’t like are being forced to make a choice: Either cut a deal with him to protect their billion-dollar businesses, or sue him to assert their right to continue representing clients as they please.

It was extremely disappointing when Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison — a hugely successful firm that has been heralded for its commitment to causes and clients potentially adverse to Trump’s agenda — bent the knee to the president.

Paul, Weiss agreed to a number of Trump’s dictates, including a pledge to represent clients of all political affiliations; have its hiring decisions audited for Trump-disfavored diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; and donate tens of millions in pro bono services to the president’s pet causes.

While I’ve been highly critical of law firms since founding The American Lawyer magazine nearly half a century ago, I’ve stuck to the belief that these were partnerships of professionals committed to uphold the principles of their profession, and who believed that running a business well did not have to compromise those principles. Now that belief is being tested.

This is not a partisan issue or a pro-MAGA or anti-MAGA issue. Rather, it has to do with abuses of executive power that undermine democracy. Will the next Democratic president feel empowered to issue executive orders to cripple firms that represent Trump or that have adopted his causes?

Defending democracy from authoritarianism depends on three pillars: the press, the courts and the legal profession. If the government tries to rein in the press from reporting what the people need to know, the courts must be there to protect the press. If the government tries to act beyond its authority, the courts must be there to protect the victims. But the courts cannot do any of that if there are not competent, willing lawyers to press the case. Lawyers are the lynchpin of everything that protects our society.

Happily, several of the biggest law firms have gone in the opposite direction of Paul, Weiss. Three top partnerships also targeted by the Trump administration — Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, and WilmerHale — have sued, successfully so far, to enjoin executive orders that could wipe them out.

Among other things, the firms’ lawyers would be forbidden from entering federal buildings, stripped of security clearances, and barred from meeting with any federal officials. Worse still, the order directed all federal agencies not to do business with any outside companies that use these firms, even if what the vendors use these lawyers for has nothing to do with the government (a telecom provider or a real estate company, for example). The three firms are being represented by fierce defenders of the rule of law, including Paul Clement, who served as solicitor general under President George W. Bush.

But another large firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom, has also “settled” with the Trump administration — capitulating in advance of getting an executive order. So, it’s still unclear whether Paul, Weiss’s cave-in will be the rule or the exception.

What is clear is that rule of law cannot function without smart, tough lawyers. As a partner at another highly successful firm told me: “Yes, we make a lot of money. But we’ve talked about it, and we’re prepared to fight and even suffer financially for a few years. We have to, and we think our clients will understand that. The rule of law is what we do.”

A few days ago, I ran into Brad Karp, the chairman of Paul, Weiss, and I followed up with an email. One of my questions was: “You’re almost certain to get another test. It’s abundantly clear that if you take on a client or cause that the president doesn’t like, he will try to bully you and your ‘partners’ again. Will you take on that client or cause, even if it means you end up with a smaller firm but one with real partners?” He promised that he would. We’ll see.

Journalists who cover the law and law firms should follow up and hold the leaders of all large firms accountable. Get them all on the record about which path they are choosing: to fight for their constitutional rights and those of their clients, or to bend to the whims of a president with apparently little respect for either.

Steven Brill, the founder of The American Lawyer and Court TV, is the co-CEO of NewsGuard. He wrote this column for Bloomberg Opinion.