RALEIGH, N.C. -- A North Carolina court temporarily blocked a new state law on Wednesday that had stripped the new Democratic governor of some of his powers.
The law, passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature, required Senate confirmation for the governor's Cabinet members, which previous governors have not needed. The law was approved in December, two weeks before Roy Cooper took over. It was criticized by Democrats who called it a partisan effort to undermine the new governor's authority.
A three-judge panel released its decision Wednesday as state senators were scheduled to question Cooper's pick to lead the state's veterans affairs department.
Cooper appointed eight of his 10 Cabinet members before the Legislature went into session in January and they were sworn in. Cooper said they are the Cabinet heads and are working at their jobs.
The Legislature called them acting heads and said that under the law they passed, they can be dismissed if the Senate does not confirm them.
The decision by the judges was released an hour before senators were scheduled to question Cooper's pick to lead the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, but he was absent. Committee Co-Chairman Sen. Wesley Meredith read a brief statement in which he said senators would still get answers about the qualifications of secretaries, and the meeting abruptly ended.
The three Superior Court judges have scheduled another hearing in the case Friday and will decide whether to postpone enforcement of the law until they can reach an ultimate decision.
Republican leaders called the judges' decision "a blatant overstep of their constitutional authority."
House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger said in a joint statement, "If these three men want to make laws, they should hang up their robes and run for a legislative seat." Berger and Moore also said "their decision to legislate from the bench will have profound consequences." They didn't explain further.
Cooper said the court "should not be intimidated by threats from legislative leaders."
"We need to put these partisan confirmation games behind us" and pass other legislation, Cooper said, including the repeal of a law limiting gay and transgender rights and which public restrooms transgender people can use, known as House Bill 2.
The GOP-led General Assembly and the governor have been fighting in court on other matters. The same three-judge panel blocked another new law that shifted oversight of elections away from the governor and toward the Legislature. In federal court, a judge agreed with Moore and Berger last month and blocked attempts by Cooper or President Barack Obama's administration to approve Medicaid expansion in the state.
Republican lawmakers say the state constitution gives the senators "advice and consent" powers over gubernatorial appointments.
Senators have laid out a schedule to examine Cooper's eight picks through mid-March. They said they weren't aiming to be confrontational and wanted to determine if Cooper's choices were capable of performing the job, lacked conflicts of interest and planned to follow the law.
A Section on 02/09/2017