MADISON - Republican leaders of the state Legislature took Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to court Tuesday to stop his administration from keeping businesses and schools closed through May in an effort to slow the spread of a deadly coronavirus.

The move escalates the partisan war between the Republicans who control the Legislature and the Democratic governor that began before Evers took office.

This time, the two sides battle over whether shutting down the state to save lives is worth the devastating economic toll.

The GOP leaders are seeking to take away Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm's ability to make unilateral decisions during public health emergencies and instead require her to gain their approval before taking action. They say the Evers administration's actions are outside the bounds of the law.

"Purporting to act under color of State law, an unelected, unconfirmed cabinet secretary has laid claim to a suite of czar-like powers — unlimited in scope and indefinite in duration — over the people of Wisconsin," the complaint reads.

Evers fired back on a phone call with reporters, saying the move could cost lives by lifting rules needed to make consumers and workers healthy and confident enough to resume daily life.

"People die every day because of this and the more we screw around with it, the more people die," he said. "Political power should not trump life."

Republicans are bypassing lower courts and going straight to the state Supreme Court, which is controlled by conservatives, with a suit that gives them the power to veto Palm's plans to respond to the virus outbreak.

If they're successful, businesses and schools could likely reopen if owners and administrators wanted to do so.

Aides to Fitzgerald and Vos did not answer questions about what restrictions, if any, they wanted in place of Evers' order to stay home, which would expire Friday if the court acts in the Republicans' favor. Both declined to be interviewed.

In a statement, the GOP leaders said Evers' orders "denied the people a voice through this unprecedented administrative overreach."

"Unfortunately, that leaves the Legislature no choice but to ask the Supreme Court to rein in this obvious abuse of power," Fitzgerald, who is running to represent the 5th Congressional District, and Vos said in a statement.

Evers declared a public health emergency on March 12 and in doing so granted Palm powers to take steps necessary to prevent the spread of the virus and to respond to it.

Under state law, DHS "may close schools and forbid public gatherings in schools, churches, and other places to control outbreaks and epidemics."

The law also says the department may write rules or issue orders "for guarding against the introduction of any communicable disease into the state," and "for the quarantine and disinfection of persons," among other reasons.

"If a single bureaucrat can evade the controls and accountability measures that the Legislature has enacted to control agency overreach simply by labeling what is obviously an emergency rule a mere "order," then all of the reforms that the Legislature has put in place, and which this Court has interpreted and enforced over the years, are a meaningless, dead letter — in their most consequential application," the lawsuit says.

Evers said Fitzgerald and Vos were making a hollow argument and were instead seeking more power.

"This is an extraordinary day unlike any other, frankly, I've ever witnessed as governor or even before I was governor," he said. "This is a power grab by the Legislative Republicans who are telling 4,600 plus in the state of Wisconsin who have contracted COVID-19 and the families of the 242 people who have died, we don’t care about you — we care about our political power."

Fitzgerald and Vos argue the restrictions in place under orders signed by Palm shouldn't apply to rural counties with many fewer cases of the virus than cities such as Milwaukee and Madison.

"... By the time the Secretary sees fit to lift her decree (be it in five weeks or eight months), many Wisconsinites will have lost their jobs, and many companies will have gone under, to say nothing of the Order’s countless other downstream societal effects. Our State will be in shambles," the lawsuit says.

Palm was appointed in January 2019 after Evers was elected but Republicans in the state Senate have refused to confirm her appointment, leaving her in the position of leading the state's response to an outbreak of a deadly virus while facing the possibility of losing her job in the middle of it.

Evers said Tuesday Palm and state health officials were acting lawfully.

"The Department of Health Services are true public servants who have done nothing wrong," he said. "Andrea Palm is a superior leader and she has done everything according to the law."

The lawsuit asks the state's highest court to block the Evers administration's extension of his most restrictive order during the outbreak, one that requires people to stay at home as much as possible through scores of business closures and ended classroom instruction for the school year.

Evers and Palm have said without such restrictions, five times as many Wisconsin residents would have been infected by the virus or would be dead.

As of Tuesday, 4,620 people have tested positive for the virus and 242 people have died. DHS models showed 22,000 people would have been infected by April 8 and 1,500 would have died in that time frame without the orders being challenged now.

But some GOP lawmakers question whether the number of cases in Wisconsin warrant the heavy restrictions and resulting economic loss — nearly 400,000 unemployment claims — and have proposed to lift restrictions by region.

Fifty-six percent of confirmed cases of the virus are people living in Dane and Milwaukee counties. Some counties in rural areas have fewer than 10 cases each.

Evers has opposed the idea, saying travel could spread the virus to areas with few cases.

The lawsuit comes after the state's chamber of commerce and the Tavern League of Wisconsin urged state leaders to lift restrictions more quickly than Evers has proposed.

At the same time, public health experts within the Trump administration say resuming daily life too soon could lead to a resurgance of cases and longer shutdowns.

Republicans are asking the court to block the order but to wait six days before doing so to allow the state health agency to write new rules related to the outbreak that are subject to legislative review.

When asked whether he would seek to extend restrictions Republicans are challenging using a new executive order, Evers said he didn't want to play "a chess match."

"Now we are asked to play a chess match with the Supreme Court. It just defies logic," he said.

Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.