Matt Hall storms Lansing: Insulting, unapologetic and 'winning every week'

• After two decades in politics, Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall has turned heads in Lansing with a brash style but willingness to make deals
• Hall has garnered comparisons to President Donald Trump, who he says shows you politicians shouldn’t be scared to ‘shake things up’
• Thanks to new term limits law, the Richland Township Republican has eyes on staying in his powerful position through 2029

LANSING — Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall was less than 10 minutes into one of his weekly press conferences when he abruptly pivoted from touting government transparency to unloading on a Democratic colleague.

“We have this very low IQ representative named Mai Xiong, probably one of the dumbest ones in the Legislature,” he said, later suggesting the Warren Democrat was “not doing anything” for her constituents in Lansing. 

Hall's short diatribe prompted rebukes from high ranking Democrats — Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson called it “disrespectful” and “beyond unacceptable” — but the 41-year-old Richland Township Republican wasn’t about to apologize.

Xiong had criticized him for cancelling a House session because President Donald Trump was in Macomb County. But she should have thanked him, Hall argued, because Trump used the event to announce a new fighter mission for Selfridge Air National Guard Base, near her district.

Since taking over the top job in the state House this January, Hall has frequently insulted Democrats: He’s called House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri “useless and ineffective” on multiple occasions, and accused Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks of being “directionless” and “misguided.”

Yet, Hall has helped negotiate the only successful legislative effort so far in the state's newly divided government: A bipartisan compromise to scale back minimum wage and paid sick leave laws that were set to take effect under court order, a move hailed by business leaders.

He’s also developed an unlikely working relationship with Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, joining her for White House trips where they secured Trump commitments to expand operations at Selfridge and try to head off a Great Lakes Asian carp infestation. 

Hall’s brash tone but willingness to strike deals have earned him fans and critics alike in Lansing, where Democrats can’t pass legislation without him, making the Richland Township Republican one of the most powerful people in state government. 

“Politicians are scared that if they're bold or they shake things up, or they take on the establishment, that it's going to cost them the election,” Hall said in an hour-long interview with Bridge Michigan. “I just say, ‘Look, we just saw Donald Trump prove it.’ You can do it, and people will support you.”

‘Trump before Trump’

Trump comparisons abound for Hall, who routinely pivots and weaves in lengthy press conferences, says he is not afraid to upset traditional powers and frequently boasts of his negotiating prowess. 

Some, like Michigan Chamber CEO Jim Holcomb, say how the fourth-term lawmaker conducts business “offers a benefit of clarity and transparency.” 

“We never guess, we’re never unsure on almost any issue,” Holcomb told Bridge. “If we spoke with the speaker, we know exactly where he stands and we know that what he tells us is what he truly believes.”

But others, like state Rep. Noah Arbit, D-West Bloomfield, say that Hall’s “bullying … dishonors our institution.” Hall, he recently argued, is “trying to pass as a two-bit facsimile of Donald Trump.” 

It’s been a long road to the top for Hall, who grew up in Oakland County and began making a name for himself in politics roughly two decades ago as a student at Western Michigan University. 

There, he led WMU’s chapter of the College Republicans and was considered extremely conservative, said Dennis Lennox, a longtime Michigan Republican consultant. 

While Hall has since cemented himself as a power player, his positions “haven’t changed — the party has changed more in his direction,” Lennox said. “He was Trump before Trump.”

Under Hall, House Republicans have approved bills to cut personal income taxes and fix roads without raising taxes. Hall’s caucus has also adopted a resolution to bar transgender athletes from high school sports, and he's forced Democrats to vote on their own bill to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver licenses, which failed.

Like Trump, Hall survived what would have been setbacks — or even career-enders — for others: Critics have blasted him for threatening emails he sent in college and a domestic assault claim later recanted by his now-wife. In 2020, Saturday Night Live skewered him for a legislative hearing he held with Rudy Giuliani. 

He tapped the fundraising prowess of traditional Republicans like former Gov. Rick Snyder and the energy of the MAGA movement to help Republicans take back the state House in 2024. Colleagues rewarded him by electing him to the coveted role of speaker.

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Roughly two decades into his political career, Hall is now setting the tone for policy debates on road funding, public safety and more in Lansing, where he’s also using the threat of a government shutdown as leverage to try to finalize an income tax cut during ongoing budget talks with Whitmer and Senate Democrats. 

Among other things, he’s vowed the House will not take up any budget bills with pet project earmarks that were not disclosed in advance, upending a process that officials from both major parties have traditionally used to secure lawmaker votes for final passage.

“I don't give a shit about somebody that's trying to write me a $50,000 check or $100,000 check to get a $25 million building or something in the budget — I don’t give a shit about that,” Hall told Bridge.

“Where I'm moving the Republicans is where we're gonna do our platform and people who support us are the people that actually believe in our views. And if we do that, it's better for the people, the taxpayers in Lansing.”

A ‘political animal’

Hall grew up in Rochester Hills as the oldest of three children. He attended Western Michigan University and graduated in 2006, earning a bachelor’s degree in business management and public administration. He later graduated from Cooley Law School in 2017

Hall’s father made a living in business, working in the automotive and defense sectors and retiring as CEO of AM General — an Illinois manufacturer that builds military and commercial vehicles, including Humvees.

John Knowles, a longtime friend of Hall, described the family as “patriotic … Christian people” who — despite Hall being the only member in politics — “have a love for service.” 

Hall worked in the defense industry at L-3 Combat Propulsion Systems from 2007 until 2011 and also served as youth vice chair of the Michigan Republican Party during that period. He ultimately decided to devote himself to politics, an interest he said had been sparked long ago by a fourth-grade trip to Lansing. 

“I had to pave my own way in politics," he told Bridge. “If I had done business, I would have been able to take advantage of the relationships that other family members had built.”

In 2016 — two years before he won election to the state House -– Hall served on the rules committee of the Republican National Convention, where he helped kill an anti-Trump effort. Later that year, he led an effort to remove a Michigan GOP official from her role after she refused to back Trump.

Earlier, he had worked or volunteered for Republicans including former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land in 2005 and in ex-Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office in 2011. 

Hall became the politician he is today by working with and for “folks who know the business and know how to get things done," said Andrea Bitely, founder of the Lansing-based Bitely Communications firm, who went to WMU with Hall and was also in College Republicans. 

“Matt rising to be speaker was surprising, but not shocking,” Bitely added. “He’s always been very, very much a political animal.”

Like Trump, Hall has navigated controversy but emerged seemingly unscathed. 

In his 2018 campaign, reporters dug up police reports from WMU showing Hall had been investigated for emails in which he told a Washington College student “the south will rise again” and that he had a bullet “with your name on it.” Hall dismissed them as “nonsensical” and “drunken” missives. 

He went on to beat incumbent state Rep. Dave Maturen in the Republican primary by more than 2,300 votes.

“Now, he may have found better ways to express his positions than the way he did when he was in college,” said Lennox, the Republican consultant, “but the party has come around to him in 20 years — and, again, I would say that’s just remarkable that he’s lasted 20 years in a lot of different capacities.”

Four more years?

Sitting on a shelf in Hall’s office at the Michigan Capitol — not far from a sealed box of custom Funko Pop containing figurines resembling him and his nine-year-old stepson — is a gavel. 

It was a gift from a former House colleague to commemorate a 2020 House Oversight Committee where he gave Trump allies Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis a forum to allege widespread voter fraud had cost Trump Michigan’s 2020 presidential election.

Critics called it a "circus," and the hearing was parodied by Saturday Night Live, but Hall defended it at the time, arguing it was important to hear the claims, even if "these are things that aren't true." 

Hall says a more defining moment of his legislative career occurred last December, when he led a dramatic House Republican walkout during the lame-duck session that effectively ended the first Democratic trifecta in Michigan government in four decades. 

“That defined the backbone that this Republican caucus has, and it’s stuck in people’s minds,” Hall said of the walkoff, which he promoted as a protest to try and spur action on Michigan’s paid sick leave and wage laws, which he later helped amend after the GOP took back the state House this year.

Now, not even five months into his tenure as House Speaker, Hall is already envisioning serving in the post through 2029: The state’s new term limits law will allow him to serve in the House another two terms, he has noted in both press conferences and an interview with Bridge.

Should Republicans retain the lower chamber in 2026 and 2028, and colleagues pick him to stay on in the post, Hall could be one of the longest-serving House Speakers in Michigan history. 

And that, he contends, allows him to play the long game in negotiations with other government officials, because “at the end of the day, I have six more years. They don’t,” Hall said. 

This two-year term, which began in January, could be a litmus test for his leadership, said Bitely, the Republican consultant who went to college with Hall. And, Hall has one major advantage: Whitmer’s own legacy. 

Unable to run for reelection in 2026, Whitmer has two years left to tackle her top priorities, such as finalizing a long-term plan to fund road and bridge fixes, an elusive promise she made to voters in her winning 2018 campaign. 

“Hall is her ticket to getting the roads — getting the damn roads — fixed. Hall is her ticket to maintaining our state budget. … Essentially, 43% of our state budget comes from federal money. Whitmer can't afford to lose those dollars,” Bitely said. 

“She needs to have that relationship with Hall and Trump to make sure that we have that money.”

While Whitmer has criticized aspects of Hall’s road funding plan, which would eliminate funding for her flagship economic incentive program and force other spending cuts, she’s credited him for at least proposing one – something her fellow Democrats in the Legislature have not. 

In a recent statement to Bridge, the governor described her relationship with the House Speaker as productive.

“Thoughout my time in office, I’ve always said I will work with people on both sides of the aisle to put Michiganders first and get stuff done,” Whitmer said. “That’s no different this term.”

‘Winning every week’

As House Speaker, Hall has brought one-time political outsiders into his fold, giving one-time “freedom caucus” members like state Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, and Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, key roles on committees. 

But at least one Republican colleague told Bridge they could not talk freely about Hall for fear of retribution. And an observer noted that Hall did not give a high-profile committee assignment to state Rep. Tom Kunse of Clare, who had challenged him for the speakership role. 

That “sent a clear message” about what could happen to fellow Republicans who try to take on Hall, said Jimmy Greene, who was a longtime GOP insider and lobbyist in his former role as president and CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors Michigan.

Hall is transactional and “Trumpian,” he added, suggesting lawmakers need to praise Hall to stay in his good graces. 

Those that don’t? They “suffer in silence,” Greene said. 

Hall, however, said criticism he’s faced over the years has made him a stronger leader and brought his GOP caucus together. 

“I’ve been attacked by all sides the whole way I’m coming up,” he said. “With me, it’s always no holds barred, everybody — Republicans, Democrats, lobbyists… So, you come to me and say ‘why is it that you fight back?’ This is why. We have the most unified Republican caucus that anybody’s ever seen.” 

The Legislature has only managed enough bipartisan cooperation to pass two bills so far this year, and Hall has so far refused to take up public records transparency legislation approved by the Senate. 

But Hall is quick to tout that House Republicans have dominated the news headlines by passing their own plans to fund road repairs, cut income taxes, reform the earmark process and more. 

Republicans, he said, are “winning every week.”