Good morning. Happy Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day to all but those spending time today in the Minnesota Senate.

It was a tense day in the House Rules Committee yesterday as members mulled impeachment proceedings for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison. The right flank of the House Republican caucus carried proposals to impeach the DFL officials , alleging they let fraud fester in state government programs. That issue got some discussion, even though the actual resolution before the tied committee had to deal with the process to launch impeachment proceedings through the House’s anti-fraud committee. Rep. Ben Davis, R-Merrifield, and his colleagues said the House should take a step not exercised since the 1800s and remove the Democrats. "We have a historic amount of fraud taking place in our state. Historic actions are warranted,” he said. “Minnesota deserves accountability and transparency with its constitutional officers.” All eight Republicans on the panel voted in favor, while all eight Democrats voted against. They said it was a waste of time and a political stunt. Several also said Republicans should seek consequences for their party’s leader: President Donald Trump. “The public is asking us to actually do things that help them. They are facing real economic challenges with cost of living. They are dealing with the aftermath of Operation Metro Surge, they are asking us to take action on gun violence prevention, they are asking us to take action on actual bills that would address fraud, and yet we are here debating this nonsense,” said House DFL Floor Leader Jamie Long. Gov. Tim Walz encouraged lawmakers to focus on the remaining work of the session. “I would just encourage those legislators to maybe  get out of the basement of the Capitol, where you're putting on a little play,” he told our colleague Catharine Richert. “They don't like me, but they were not elected to like me. They were elected to serve their constituents.”

In the governor’s race, the Republican candidates face the stark reality of being swamped in fundraising by Democrat Amy Klobuchar. Klobuchar, who entered in January, has more than triple the COMBINED cash on hand as all of the Republican candidates still actively campaigning. The state GOP tried to spin being dwarfed in fundraising, with party chair Alex Plechash saying Klobuchar “wants donors to open their wallets again so she can protect her toxic record of failure. That takes nerve.” Here are the figures from the first quarter reports.

One more thing to note in the governor's race: Mike Lindell had told reporters in March that he raised $1 million in his campaign. Not even close. His total fundraising was half that. But as we've become accustomed, the more interesting parts of his report are in the spending side of the ledger. Lindell's Mar-a-Lago fundraiser was quite the pricey proposition. He put down $135,000 to host the gathering there plus extra for a fundraising consultant and security tied to the venue. And Lindell dropped another $60,000 on his own book, which he's giving away as a campaign momento.