Litigation » NC Governor Threatens To Sue Legislature

NC Governor Threatens To Sue Legislature

December 16, 2016

Vector illustration of a blue North Carolina state icon with shadow.

After the Republican candidate lost the state’s gubernatorial election last month, North Carolina’s GOP-dominated legislature has taken several steps to limit the powers of that office. In response, Gov.-elect Roy Cooper – a Democrat currently serving as the state’s attorney general – has threatened to sue. “If I believe these measures are unconstitutional, they will see me in court and they don’t have a good track record there,” he says, but Cooper’s options in court may be limited. The legislature has proposed limiting the number of state government employees Cooper can hire and fire at will, stripping the governor of power to appoint trustees to the University of North Carolina and giving it to the General Assembly, and requiring Senate confirmation for Cabinet appointments. The bill Republicans have proposed would also alter what party controls the state election board, which Democrats claim unfairly favors the GOP during election years. Republicans claim the measures are necessary to restore the balance of power between different branches of the state government. The changes are “major changes in North Carolina law,” Cooper said. “They deserve debate. They deserve deliberation.”

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