What Happened During The December 9th Special Session
Apparently, losing in court requires emergency powers.
Special session. A phrase that implies urgency, gravity, and action on real, pressing issues.
What Utah got last night was… certainly special.
Lawmakers rushed back to the Capitol for what they insisted was an “immediate” crisis. Not the 100,000+ families who went a month without food stamps. Not the childcare centers closing. Not housing, healthcare, or anything remotely connected to real life.
No — the emergency was all about them. Their maps. Their panic. Their power.
And in true Utah Legislature fashion, they solved precisely none of the state’s actual problems. Instead, they spent the night rewriting the rules in their own favor, with fun detours through topics like ancient Athens, porn, unions, and of course, a round of public prayer.
The emergency session was called by Governor Cox on Sunday, December 7th. By Monday morning, lawmakers still hadn’t released final bill language. Public comment was scheduled for 4 pm on Tuesday. Votes would happen at 6 pm (but please, tell us again about your deep commitment to transparency and process).
Here’s your full breakdown of what happened and, more importantly, all the things they said while doing it.
Why They Called This Extra-Special Session
There was one reason this special session happened, and it wasn’t noble. It wasn’t urgent. It wasn’t even subtle.
They’re scared. Not “mild concern” scared. Not “we’ll workshop the messaging” scared.
I mean scared scared. The kind of scared where you can feel your grip on power slipping and you start making sloppy moves that expose exactly what you’re trying to hide.
Here’s what had them sweating through their painful, pioneer-themed metaphors:
1. A fair congressional map is finally in place.
For the first time in over a decade, Utahns could have a congressional map that doesn’t carve up Salt Lake County like a pizza. If that map stands, Republicans suddenly have to run real campaigns instead of just selecting their own voters and checking out completely after the primary. They hate that.
2. Utahns out-organized them on HB267.
Everyday Utahns, powered by teachers, firefighters, police officers, and thousands of other public workers, collected more than 300,000 signatures to overturn the anti-union bill. It qualified for the ballot, meaning lawmakers would have to run for re-election next year while defending their votes for this unpopular bill. And they were going to lose — badly.
So instead of facing voters, they yanked the emergency brake and repealed their own bill.
3. The courts told them “no” and meant it.
The Utah Supreme Court ruled that voters do have constitutional power, and the Legislature can’t override that whenever they feel like it. If you really want to watch Utah GOP leadership lose their minds, hand them a ruling from a co-equal branch of government that restricts their power even a little bit.
4. Competitive elections terrify them.
If the fair map stands and voters stay mobilized, 2026 looks different. It doesn’t mean Utah will turn blue overnight. But it will make next year and the elections to come competitive in ways that cut into the GOP’s guaranteed power. And nothing rattles a supermajority like accountability.
Put it all together, and the story becomes very simple:
They didn’t call a special session because the people needed something. They didn’t call it to help families, fix problems, or improve anyone’s life.
They called it because they needed something: time, control, escape hatches, procedural advantages, and as many structural barriers as they can erect before voters get a real shot at having a voice.
What They Did
Once again, to be so clear: they didn’t fix a single real problem, but they did move at lightning speed to protect themselves. So let’s walk through the legislation they passed yesterday and what it actually means.
1. They Repealed HB267 (Because Voters Were About to Win)
HB267, the Most Hated Bill Ever™ is dead. Not because it was wrong (it was), not because workers demanded it (they did), but because lawmakers saw 300,000+ signatures and realized they were about to get wrecked on the ballot.
So they sprinted into a special session to repeal their own bill before voters could hand them a historic L next November.
And look, if they had just said, “We were wrong and we’re correcting it,” that would’ve been… something. We might’ve even given them a polite golf clap.
But no. They had to make it weird (because of course).
Teuscher’s Athens Analogy
Jordan Teuscher, architect of the original bill, opened his mind-numbing floor speech by referencing ancient Athens, as if he were a featured TedX speaker, leading a classical democracy seminar, or giving the most tired and cliche commencement speech you’ve ever heard.
“Just like the Athenians 2,000 years ago, they faced similar problems…”
When someone starts by quoting ancient Greece in a drawn-out, tangled, and confusing metaphor to justify modern policy, you know they’re losing.
He then went on to pretend that this repeal was his idea all along, saying, “Let’s step back and lower the temperature.”
Wow, what a good guy!
Sir, you lit the fire. You sponsored this bill. You could have “lowered the temperature” by not attacking workers’ rights in the first place, or listening when thousands of Utahns loudly opposed this bill before it was passed.
“This good legislation has been taken over by misinformation.”
Ah yes, the classic deflection. The truth hurts, Jordan! People understood your bill, hated it, and did something about it. That’s not misinformation. That’s democracy. You must be new here, welcome!
And then he doubled down to remind everyone that “this was good policy.” So no real admission of fault, just an admission of fear.
Towards the end of his rambling, he shared a story about a teacher telling him that some educators are literally on suicide watch during session because of the Legislature’s nonstop attacks on them. Seems bad! But, of course, he immediately dismissed it, because apparently teachers aren’t actually worried about their livelihoods or the future of Utah’s schools; (the legislature LOVES teachers!) the union is just telling them they are.
A breathtaking display of delusion.
Pierucci’s Classic Porn and Crayon Defense
Candice Pierucci followed with her usual routine: demanding applause for the Legislature’s bare-minimum efforts and acting offended that people aren’t more grateful.
“We have done so much for workers. Maternity leave, teacher supplies, firefighter cancer screening — all these things were fought by the union.”
The unions reading this: 🧍♀️🧍♂️ (blink blink)
“The union fought against removing porn in libraries.” Um, okay. Sure, Candice.
Cullimore, Please Define “Some”:
Teuscher’s sidekick in authoring HB267 justified the repeal because:
“Organized labor is nothing if not organized. They collected some signatures.”
Yes, Kirk. More than a quarter of a million of them. “Some.”
“They qualified for the ballot so in discussions decided it’s best to not have this on the ballot.”
In other words: “We were going to lose so badly that we’re retreating before you can embarrass us publicly.”
2. SB2001: Moved the Congressional Filing Deadline to March
By shifting the filing deadline from January to March, for congressional candidates only, lawmakers bought the Utah Supreme Court extra time to potentially stay or overturn the fair map. But this is not about “helping candidates.” It’s about giving their desperate appeal a clearer runway.
A reminder: a few years ago, the Legislature moved the filing deadline from March to January. It looked like a boring administrative tweak, but it gave incumbents a huge advantage: they’d know their opponents before the legislative session started. Meaning they could calibrate exactly how egregious they could be.
But don’t worry, they’re not giving up that perk. They’re only moving it for congressional candidates. Legislators still get the early-warning system.
Representative Doug Owens (a Democrat) asked: “To what end are we doing this?”
The real answer: To delay the consequences of the court ruling just long enough to wriggle free of any real accountability.
3. SB2002/SJR201 Rewriting the Appeals Process to Favor Themselves
These two pieces of legislation change how quickly election and redistricting cases move, which courts hear them, and how appeals get handled. It gives lawmakers a faster, cleaner path for their map challenge and limits future citizen lawsuits.
Senator Brady Brammer insisted it “just lets us move cases faster.” Totally innocent normal procedural “good governance.” Totally unaligned with the fact that their case is the one stuck in the queue. Convenience is a beautiful thing when you’re the one writing the rules.
4. HJR201 The Constitutional Authority Resolution (aka Their Twitter Grievances, But Make It Legislative)
While this resolution has no real legal power, that doesn’t mean it should be taken lightly. It’s the ideological scaffolding for the constitutional amendment they want to put on the ballot to fully repeal Prop 4 and eliminate voters’ ability to pass initiatives.
The text itself reads like a group therapy session written entirely in WHEREAS clauses (rewritten here for dramatic purposes only, you can read the real one here):
WHEREAS the courts hurt our feelings...
WHEREAS Prop 4 was “barely” passed...
WHEREAS the judge used a “special interest map”...
WHEREAS the judge issued a decision at 11:41PM and that was rude…
WHEREAS the constitution says we can do whatever we want…
WHEREAS we are obviously the real victims here…
They might as well have said:
“WHEREAS the judge was mean to us”
“And WHEREAS she should smile more”
This is cosplay constitutional law, but its very clear what their end goal is: they’re laying the groundwork to rewrite Utah’s constitution so voters and courts can never limit their power again.
The Floor Speeches
There’s passing bad policy, and then there’s giving a four-hour community theater performance about why you deserve unchecked power. Last night, we got the pleasure of both.
Casey Snider: Pioneer Cosplay Meets Racism
Snider’s speech was already wobbling under the weight of bizarre handcart metaphors and feigned righteous indignation when he decided to throw in this gem:
“Some people [in this room] can trace their heritage farther back than I, and some are fresh off the boat.”
This guy from Paradise, Utah, telling his colleagues (in the year 2025, may I remind you) that some of them are “fresh off the boat.” On the House floor. During a debate about constitutional authority. Truly enlightening commentary.
Tiara Auxier: Buzzword Mad Libs
Auxier clearly received the “activist judge” script from leadership. Her speech hit every right-wing dogwhistle you could find by typing “liberal overreach” into Google.
There was no throughline, no argument, no logic — just a list of threats stitched together like someone reading a Word document titled Talking Points FINAL FINAL (use this one).
It was fearmongering by way of poorly-written bullet points.
Jason Kyle: Hostage Video Meets Prayer Circle
Jason Kyle’s speech was the emotional low point of the night. He looked and sounded like a man who had spent far too long in a room with people like Mike Schultz, Trevor Lee, and Candice Pierucci (and honestly, who can blame him). His remarks had the cadence of a ransom note. Honestly, its worth the watch.
And then the pièce de résistance, he said, “I ask every Utahn to join together in prayer... pray for courage for our legislature... pray that God will keep Utah the freest, strongest, most prosperous state in America.”
And he wasn’t alone. A parade of Republicans echoed the same “pray for our state” line, like Spencer Cox had given them all a pre-session locker room pep talk on the power of collective prayer.
Utah Politics Remains... A Lot
If last night felt a bit like being mugged, that’s because it was. There wasn’t much to do other than stand there while they ransacked the rules, grabbed your wallet, and strutted off feeling triumphant. But here’s the part they don’t realize: we still have something valuable in our back pockets.
The Legislature didn’t fix anything. They didn’t solve anything. They didn’t make life easier for a single person in this state.
They spent an entire special session protecting themselves, protecting their maps, their power, their appeal strategy, and their egos—from voters, from courts, and from the consequences of their own decisions.
But buried inside all that noise was the one truth they will never say out loud: Utahns pushed them. And it worked.
Regardless of all of their whining and temper tantrums and gaslighting, Prop 4 is still the law of the land. The fair map is still in place. The referendum still received a record number of signatures. None of what they did last night changes that. It just showcases that, when the public pressure gets too loud, they can and will fold.
They can rewrite deadlines. They can rush bills. They can invent constitutional vocabulary on the fly. They can call themselves into session whenever their feelings get hurt.
But they can’t hide the truth: Utah is changing, and they know it.
And that’s why they panicked, called a special session, and why they rewrote process after process to insulate themselves.
Not because they’re strong, but because they’re losing control.
What Comes Next
General session starts in less than 50 days (jump scare, I know). They’re going to come in hot. Angrier, louder, and more determined than ever to lock down their power before voters get another chance to challenge it.
Good. We’ll be there too.
We’re gearing up to make their lives as painful as possible (politically) and keep you informed every step of the way. If you’re able, please consider supporting this work. It makes an enormous difference in how loud, fast, and clear we can be.
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Because if this special session proved anything, it’s this: When Utahns organize, push, and refuse to back down, the Legislature suddenly remembers how to retreat.
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