Judges give partial wins to GOP, governor in power struggle
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina judges issued partial victories Friday to both Republican legislators and new Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper over laws designed to undercut his powers.
The judicial panel threw out laws approved two weeks before Cooper took office that limit his authority in carrying out elections and that give civil service job protections to hundreds of former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory’s political appointees.
But a majority of the three judges also upheld the new law subjecting Cooper’s Cabinet secretaries to formal confirmation by a majority of the state Senate. The judges already had declined earlier to halt confirmation activity by Senate Republicans, and three department heads have been approved unanimously since last week.
The rulings by the panel of trial court judges, which followed oral arguments last week, could be appealed.