On March 5, 2026, DFL Senator Clare Oumou Verbeten walked onto the Minnesota Senate floor with her 7-month-old son Leo. About ten minutes later, she was asked to leave.
Leo was the problem. Specifically, the fact that Leo existed and was present.
Verbeten took to social media with the kind of deadpan Minnesotan restraint the situation deserved: “Apparently you cannot bring babies on the Senate floor and they will actually enforce it and kick them out.”
Twenty days later, the Minnesota Senate voted 41-25 to change a rule that had been on the books for 168 years. Kids are now allowed on the chamber floor.
Only in Minnesota does a seven-month-old accidentally become a catalyst for institutional reform. Leo didn’t do anything except exist near the wrong room, and now he’s part of Minnesota legislative history. Kid’s got a future in politics whether he wants one or not.
How a Breastfeeding Mom Changed 168 Years of Senate Rules
Gemini said
The story is straightforwardly good. After Verbeten posted about being escorted off the floor, Republican Sen. Julia Coleman of Waconia reached out. The two, one DFL and one Republican, agreed to work on a rule change together.
That’s the kind of bipartisan moment that makes Minnesotans feel a quiet, modest pride. We’re not going to make a big deal of it. But yeah. We did the thing.
The resolution passed March 25. Children of any age are now allowed on the Senate floor with permission of caucus leadership. And in a detail that says everything about Minnesota’s particular brand of practical decency, children are also specifically exempt from the chamber’s rules against food and drink, as they’re allowed to have milk or formula.
The adults still can’t have a cup of coffee. But the babies are covered.
The Numbers Behind the Rule Change
Sen. Alice Mann of Edina put it plainly during the debate: “Women only make up 37 percent of the Legislature in 2026 because of rules like this.”
That’s the bigger picture. The baby-on-the-floor issue is funny and human and very Minnesota, but it points to something real: when the rules of an institution were written by people who assumed legislators wouldn’t have childcare gaps, those rules quietly discourage people who do.
Sen. Julia Coleman, who co-sponsored the resolution, said it directly: “Stories like these scare women away. Women in particular are demanding this change and for good reason.”
The amendment to the resolution, added by Sen. Michael Holmstrom of Buffalo, extended it to legislative staff as well. So, it’s not just elected officials. The people doing the actual day-to-day work of running the Senate can also bring their kids without getting the polite Minnesota equivalent of a bouncer.
What the Opposition Said
Not everyone voted yes. Sen. Karin Housley of Stillwater raised concerns about the speed of the vote: “This is a very, very serious job. We are debating laws here.”
That’s a fair point. The legislature is serious. Also, babies are not inherently un-serious. These things coexist in most of the world.
Sen. Carla Nelson proposed limiting the rule to children under one year old, which at least shows creative thinking, even if it’s a little hard to explain to a 13-month-old why last month they were allowed and now they aren’t.
The final 41-25 vote didn’t break cleanly along party lines, which is either a sign of the issue’s complexity or proof that a baby getting escorted out of a government building is the kind of thing that makes people vote with their conscience regardless of caucus direction.
Minnesota’s Particular Kind of Progress
The Minnesota House, for the record, had already allowed children on the floor for years. The Senate’s change just brought the two chambers into alignment, which means this whole situation was entirely avoidable if anyone had compared notes sooner.
But that’s how institutional rules work. They persist until they don’t. Until someone shows up with a seven-month-old named Leo and gets asked to leave, and then posts about it, and then a colleague from across the aisle calls to say “yeah, let’s fix this.”
It’s a small story. It’s also a good one. A breastfeeding senator got bounced from the chamber she was elected to serve in, and three weeks later the rule was gone. The 168-year-old institution updated itself because a baby and two legislators decided it should.
Leo, for his part, has no comment. He was 7 months old in March, which means he’s roughly 8 months old now and has already accomplished more in the Minnesota Legislature than most people ever will.
What This Means for Working Parents in Minnesota
Gemini said
Beyond the chamber itself, the rule change is part of a broader conversation about what workplaces, including government, owe to parents with young children.
Minnesota has generally been ahead of the national curve on family leave and childcare policy. The state passed paid family and medical leave in 2023. Affordable childcare remains a crisis, but it’s a crisis that Minnesota legislators are actively engaged with rather than ignoring.
The Senate floor rule change is a small thing in the big picture. But small things signal what an institution thinks about the people working inside it. And this one says: the people who show up to work as legislators are sometimes also the people who have a seven-month-old and nowhere to put him for an hour, and that’s okay.
That’s a pretty Minnesotan conclusion. Practical. Reasonable. About 168 years overdue.
The Bottom Line
A baby named Leo got kicked out of the Minnesota Senate. Then the Minnesota Senate voted to make sure that never happens again. The vote was bipartisan. The bill included a milk exemption. An amendment extended the rights to staff.
Minnesota: we take our time, but we get there.
If you want to see Leo’s contribution to Minnesota legislative history, the Senate Journal from March 25, 2026 is a matter of public record. He can read it when he’s older. Or runs for office. At this point, the precedent is set either way.
Enjoying Minnesorta? Get the best Minnesota content delivered to your inbox every Sunday. Subscribe free →