Speaker Avoids Condemning DeSana, Says Caucus Will Work It Out

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 06/18/2026) During a press conference Thursday, House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) frequently dodged reporters' questions about whether he'd reprimand Rep. James DeSana (R-Carleton) for his comments about Rep. Jamie Thompson (R-Brownstown)'s deceased daughter and fellow Republican caucus members.

Instead, he focused on the two Republicans as “great” members of the caucus. Hall specifically honed in on Thompson, whom he called “no better fit for (his) district.”

Still, reporters pushed for answers on how Hall plans to address the situation.

“You know, it's not news to anybody that needs to, they haven't always gotten along, and you know that's a tension that we manage through the caucus all the time,” Hall said.

"I think we need to step back and look at this and say we all have disagreements inside the Republican Party, and I get frustrated with some of the Republicans at times. And at the end of the day, I keep going back to the fact that there's no big differences between the Republicans when it comes to issues like gender reassignment surgeries for kids."

He maintained that they'd work through it as a caucus to reach a place where they could work in harmony. In terms of DeSana calling members of his caucus “scumbags” and “swamp rats," Hall said he was probably talking about Democrats.

Hall said when he was minority leader there was more “infighting.”

“I mean, a lot of people ask me, ‘How could you get more unified and more strong as an organization’?” Hall said.

Thompson told The Detroit News that she wouldn't return to the State Capitol until the comments were addressed. When MIRS asked if he was worried about that, Hall replied that it wasn't the first time a member had said something like that.

“I'm confident we'll get her back soon,” Hall said. “She's a very valuable member of our team, so we'll work through it, and we'll emerge stronger from it.”

In a press release Thursday morning, Michigan Democratic Chair Curtis Hertel called DeSana's comments “disgusting” and the latest example of how Hall “has lost control of his caucus.”

“He didn't defend his members against these awful remarks, and he's been silent since,” Hertel said before the Speaker's press conference. “Meanwhile, he's holding the budget hostage at Michiganders' expense. We deserve better.”