Ohio Republicans lost their incoming House supermajority, and Democrat Amy Acton is preparing to become governor. House Speaker Matt Huffman is now discussing changes to executive powers. The office is getting a new occupant, and someone has become intensely interested in the measurements.

Huffman says leaders are gathering possible reforms and checking what is constitutional. He denies they're a negotiating tool and says some have nothing to do with a new governor. Perhaps. It remains an impressive coincidence that the alterations department is open during the handover.

One idea would expand legislators' ability to rescind Health Department orders. Another lawmaker, Ron Ferguson, proposes lowering the veto-override threshold from sixty votes to fifty. Huffman and Senate President Rob McColley have both expressed concerns about Ferguson's proposal, so this is not a united Republican plan.

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It is, however, an unusually revealing menu. Having failed to retain enough seats to override the incoming governor on their own, Republicans are discussing what powers the next executive should have.

Voters changed the personnel. The personnel would like to discuss the job description.

Outgoing Republican Gov. Mike DeWine says he will veto attempts to limit executive-branch powers. That adds a useful wrinkle to the tailoring appointment: the person still wearing the jacket objects to the scissors.

No package has been enacted. Huffman also wants to retain the speakership and hopes for Democratic support; no bargain is reported. The disputes include Republican rivalries, not just a neat party-line maneuver.

Government reform can be legitimate. So can changing an office's responsibilities. But the explanation needs to survive a basic question: would this particular improvement seem as urgent if your party had won?

Try answering before cutting the sleeves off somebody else's term.