Nessel pushes back after House GOP speaker claims new budget has 20% cut to AG office

LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - Now that the new Michigan state budget has been signed, many of the players in Lansing are looking into what hidden stories there might be.

Timeline:

GOP Speaker of the House Matt Hall is just part of the "He said, she said" story.

"I look at it more than a 20-21% cut to the Attorney General's office," Hall said.

The "She said" part of the equation is Democrat state Attorney General Dana Nessel.  

Tim Skubik: "I thought they cut you 20%?"

"I think you ought to take a closer look at the budget, she said. "Irrespective of whatever you hear from Speaker Hall, we did very well in the budget process. I'm very pleased with it."

Speaker Hall has been a constant critic of Nessel, and it recently escalated when she began teaming up with other Democrat attorney generals to fight President Donald Trump's crackdown on city crime with federal troops in the courts.

She was asked if the speaker was trying to get even with her by attacking her budget.

"Yeah absolutely," she said. "That is exactly what he tried to do, and he was not successful in doing that."

The speaker has said nothing about getting even.

"I don't think we're getting enough credit from the press about the significant cuts that have been made to the attorney general's office," he said.

Maybe the two of them could have a cup of coffee to iron  this out - but don't bet on it.