North Carolina's Republican legislature seeks to reduce new Democratic governor's powers

Aiming to wrap up an extraordinary special session, the GOP-controlled legislature prepared Friday to complete work on bills that would place checks upon Democrat Roy Cooper, who edged Republican incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory by just over 10,000 votes last month.

Legislation that already cleared one chamber scaled back the team Cooper can bring into office, require the Senate’s approval for top administrators at state agencies and erase the governor’s ability to shape elections boards statewide. The bills passed despite disruptions in the Senate and House that led chamber leaders to clear their galleries so they could continue to debate and vote Thursday…

Legislation would require Cooper to send his choices for Cabinet secretaries to the Senate for confirmation. The state Constitution allows the Senate to confirm a governor’s appointments, but that power largely hasn’t been used for at least decades.

“This bill is a good step forward in reasserting legislative authority vested by the constitution and entrusted to the members of this body,” said Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, on the House floor. The confirmation legislation also would direct the legislature to revive its constitutional prerogative and take over the governor’s authority to name some members to trustee boards of University of North Carolina campuses.