This story has been updated to include the Senate vote.
North Carolina Republicans are using the waning days of their soon-to-expire super majority to sharply limit the power of Democratic executive branch officials just two weeks after those officials won statewide elections.
Senate Republicans on Wednesday gave final approval to legislation that will give their allies sweeping appointment powers, a bill also meant to steer millions of dollars to rural western counties still recovering from Hurricane Helene. Just a handful of pages in the 131-page proposal were dedicated to disaster relief.
Much of the rest of the bill seeks to limit a governor’s powers, just before Gov.-elect Josh Stein (D) takes office.
One provision would shift the authority to appoint members of the five-person Board of Elections from the governor to the state auditor — an office Republicans will control come January, after Auditor-elect Dave Boliek (R) is sworn in.
Another provision would remove a governor’s authority to appoint Supreme Court justices and judges on the Court of Appeals. Under the legislation, the political party that a retiring judge or justice affiliated with would be allowed to submit nominees for a vacant post.
A third provision moves the authority to appoint members of the North Carolina Utilities Commission from the governor to the state treasurer — another office Republicans will control when Treasurer-elect Brad Briner (R) takes the oath.
Democrats blasted the bill as the dying gasps of a Republican supermajority that will end when a new General Assembly is sworn in next year. Democrats gained one seat in the House of Representatives, giving them enough votes to sustain any vetoes Stein might issue.
“This is a transparent power grab pushed through by a supermajority that is not happy with the recent election results, and you’re calling it a disaster relief bill,” Rep. Lindsey Prather (D) said on the House floor. “This is shameful.”
Republican lawmakers are also seeking to curtail the power of Attorney General-elect Jeff Jackson (D) by limiting the office’s role in litigation without receiving authorization from the General Assembly. The bill would exempt some state agencies from obtaining the attorney general’s permission before hiring private attorneys.
The omnibus bill would end an Energy Policy Council that advises state leaders on energy and environmental issues. And it shifts the state Highway Patrol out of the Department of Public Safety, controlled by the governor, and into its own independent department.
Republican lawmakers introduced the legislation just about two hours before the House took a final vote. The measure passed largely along party lines; three Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against the proposal, which was introduced as a conference committee report, meaning it could not be amended on the floor.
Gov. Roy Cooper (R) is expected to veto the measure. Legislative Republicans would then attempt to override that veto.
The move to curtail executive powers comes after Democrats performed well in statewide elections, even as President-elect Trump carried North Carolina’s electoral votes. Stein beat scandal-plagued Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) by 15 percentage points, and Jackson beat U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (R) by a nearly 3-point margin to hold onto the Attorney General’s office.
Democrats won control of the lieutenant governor’s office and the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall (D) won re-election by 2 points.