North Carolina Governor, Governor-Elect Sue State Republican Leaders After

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North Carolina’s outgoing and incoming governors say in the lawsuit that a newly enacted law undermines executive powers and threatens public safety.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Gov.-elect Josh Stein, both Democrats, filed a lawsuit this week against Republican legislative leaders, contending that a newly enacted law violates the state’s constitution by stripping power away from the governor.

The lawsuit was filed one day after the General Assembly overrode the governor’s veto of a wide-ranging bill that, among other provisions, shifts some powers away from the state’s executive branch.

The 131-page law includes a litany of provisions ranging from disaster relief allocation and various changes to the state law, including transferring the authority to appoint members of the State Board of Elections from the governor to the state auditor. The transfer would take place by next spring.

The state auditor position will soon be held by a Republican.

In addition, the measure reduces the governor’s ability to fill vacancies on the state’s Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, and prevents the state’s attorney general from taking legal positions that conflict with those of the General Assembly in lawsuits challenging state statutes.

The provision of the bill related to disaster relief transfers $227 million from the “Savings Reserve” to the “Helene Fund” to fund recovery from Hurricane Helene, which devastated Western North Carolina with historic flooding in late September. The bill adds that the funds shall remain unspent until appropriated by the General Assembly.

During debate on the override of Cooper’s veto, a Republican state legislator from Western North Carolina urged colleagues to pass the bill to transfer the funds into the disaster relief fund, saying “Western North Carolina needs the help.”

Rep. Destin Hall (R), who brought the motion to override the governor’s veto, said a “political football has been made out of this bill.”

Regarding the bill’s changes to how different appointments are made, he said it is within the General Assembly’s power to make those changes. “Folks elected this body, just as they did Gov.-elect Stein,” he said.

Answering criticisms of how the legislature has handled disaster relief after Hurricane Helene’s devastation, he noted the time needed to pinpoint needs and allocate and spend disaster relief funds.

“It’s nothing unusual the way this body has handled this particular storm relief,” he said.

In the same debate, a Democrat from Western North Carolina said the bill “doesn’t meet the moment and it doesn’t meet North Carolina’s values.”

State Highway Patrol Appointment

Also named in the suit is the commander of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Col. Freddy Johnson, who was appointed by Cooper in 2021.

Cooper and Stein argue that the bill effectively removes the incoming governor’s power to remove Johnson and appoint his own State Highway Patrol commander.

The bill secures Johnson’s role through 2030, after Stein’s four-year term is over.

The lawsuit alleges that removing the high-level law enforcement role from gubernatorial oversight is a violation of the separation of powers.

The provision encroaches on executive responsibility and potentially weakens the state’s ability to maintain order in times of crisis, they argue in the suit, filed in Wake County on Dec. 12.

“This law threatens public safety, fractures the chain of command during a crisis, and thwarts the will of voters,” Stein said in a post on X. “Our people deserve better than a power-hungry legislature that puts political games ahead of public safety.”

Cooper said in a statement that the legislature cannot both write the laws and then choose the officials tasked with enforcing them.

“Breaking the executive branch chain of command in law enforcement or any other executive branch agency is unconstitutional and it weakens our ability to respond to emergencies and keep the public safe,” the governor said.

Republicans, who have healthy majorities in both chambers of North Carolina’s legislature, maintain that the new legislation is lawful and necessary.

After the override vote, Republican leaders also pointed to the law’s provisions for disaster relief and other state concerns following the devastation from hurricanes earlier this fall.

“We stand with the common sense legislation from the General Assembly that is actually doing things to help Western NC Families,” the state’s Republican Party said in a post on X.

The governor, along with his successor, have called those claims disingenuous, accusing legislative leaders of using urgent needs as a cover for what they describe as a “power grab.”

The three defendants named in the suit—House Speaker Tim Moore, Senate leader Phil Berger, and Col. Freddy Johnson, commander of the State Highway Patrol—didn’t respond to The Epoch Times’ requests for comment on the lawsuit.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.