JUNEAU -- Alaska Gov. Bill Walker on Wednesday ordered the state House and Senate into a joint session to vote on his appointments to cabinet positions and his picks for state boards and commissions.
Top Republican lawmakers, who have fought with Walker over nearly all of his legislative priorities, earlier this week canceled a joint session for the confirmation votes that was scheduled for Friday. Walker's proclamation, citing two sections in the Alaska Constitution dealing with his powers, restores that joint session, though the Senate president, Kevin Meyer, said the Legislature might simply end the session a moment after it begins.
At the time they canceled the joint session, an aide to the Senate's Republican leadership released a legal memorandum dated in February that outlined what would happen if the Legislature decided not to act on the appointments at all.
The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn Sunday, though its leaders or Walker could call for an extended session.
Walker said in a prepared statement with his proclamation Wednesday that he was concerned about the legal memo's intent. He said his 89 appointees "deserve the opportunity to have their appointments put to a joint legislative session for a vote."
"The risk that these hard-working Alaskans will not have the opportunity of a confirmation vote is unacceptable," Walker's statement read.
Walker's proclamation calls for the joint session to start at 10 a.m. Friday. Legislators got printed, signed copies.
Meyer, R-Anchorage, the Senate president, suggested that Walker was being "paranoid" by issuing the order.
Meyer said in an interview that he and House Speaker Mike Chenault met with Walker on Wednesday morning and assured him that his appointees would get votes.
"I don't think we've given him any reason not to trust us," Meyer said, though he subsequently acknowledged that "trust has been an issue this session."
Meyer said he requested the legal memo out of curiosity and to see what his options were when it came to the confirmation votes. And he said the Legislature wasn't ready to hold them, suggesting that lawmakers could hold their joint session Friday morning and then recess without taking any action on the appointees.
"We could gavel in, gavel out," Meyer said."What does it matter if we take them up Friday, Saturday or Sunday?"
"I think they all get a vote -- they may not all get a positive vote," he added.
The Democratic minorities, meanwhile, have been largely left watching as the high-stakes dispute between Walker and the Republican legislative leadership plays out, said Rep. Chris Tuck, D-Anchorage, the House minority leader.
"In many ways we're here for the ride. It's between the House and Senate majorities," Tuck said in an interview in his office late Wednesday, where minority members were relaxing with food and drinks. "It's like a three-way chess match."
Tuck said the fight over the confirmation votes was setting up a "potential showdown" that involves all of the key outstanding issues for the Legislature.
Those include a gubernatorial veto and potential override vote on a bill sponsored by Chenault that stops Walker from carrying out his plan to develop a state-controlled natural gas pipeline. Then there's Walker's proposal to expand the Medicaid health-care program, and his bill to lower costs and expand the distribution of natural gas for Fairbanks residents.
"It's all relevant," Tuck said. "I don't know how it's going to play out in the end."
This is a developing story, check back for updates.