RALEIGH, N.C. _ The North Carolina General Assembly's attempt to revamp the state elections board and ethics commission weeks before Democrat Roy Cooper was sworn in as the new governor violates the state Constitution, a three-judge panel ruled Friday.
The judges also found that a law that would have sharply reduced the number of at-will policymaking and managerial positions in Cooper's administration to be unconstitutional, too.
The Republican-controlled General Assembly's attempt to have a say in who Cooper's key Cabinet members are was not found to be a violation of the separation of powers clause in the state Constitution. So far, the General Assembly has approved all the appointments that Cooper has made.
The rulings from Superior Court Judges Jesse Caldwell, Todd Burke and Jeff Foster come nearly two weeks after a daylong hearing in a Campbell University law school courtroom.
"We're pleased the trial court ruled two of these three laws unconstitutional, and we believe strongly that the Supreme Court ultimately will agree with us on all three," Noelle Talley, a spokeswoman for Cooper, said in a prepared statement.
Shelly Carver, a spokeswoman for Senate leader Phil Berger, a Republican, said the senator's office was reviewing the judges' ruling to determine whether any appeals would be made.
"It is encouraging the court recognized the plain language in our state's constitution providing for a transparent confirmation process for unelected Cabinet secretaries who control multibillion dollar budgets and make decisions affecting millions of everyday North Carolinians," Carver said in a statement, adding her disappointment over the rulings that went against the legislators.
The order is one of the fuller issued in an escalating power struggle between the Democrat heading the executive branch and the Republicans leading the two chambers of the General Assembly.
The three judges _ Caldwell and Burke are Democrats and Foster is a Republican _ ruled unanimously against the portion of a special session law last year that would have merged the five-member elections board with the ethics commission.
They split on the other two rulings, but not along party lines.
