Last week, the NC Senate gave its final approval to legislation which would strip NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson of his ability to challenge unlawful executive orders by Donald Trump.
The bill passed again on the same 29-19 margin as on March 5, with all Republicans present voting yes, and all Democrats present voting no. Prior to this final Senate vote on March 11, Sen. Terence Everitt (D-Granville) proposed an amendment to delay the bill’s effective date for four years. His reasoning was that Jackson was elected last year by voters who understood that he would have the legal authority to represent the state’s interests in court. The amendment failed on the same party-line vote, but it made its point that the bill’s effect would be to reverse a decision clearly made by a majority of the state’s voters.
Why the Attorney General?
Jackson has joined with other states’ Attorneys General in successfully challenging four of the Trump executive actions thus far:
- Trump’s order attempting to unconstitutionally revoke birthright citizenship for Americans born in this country.
- Trump’s order freezing federal grants and funding to a sweeping spectrum of spending categories, including environmental and clean energy programs.
- Trump’s order stripping funds from the National Institutes of Health programs, which would have defunded multiple programs at North Carolina educational institutions.
- Trump’s action allowing Elon Musk’s so-called “Dept. of Government Efficiency” (which is not a governmental entity) to access Americans’ personal data through agencies like the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service.
Apparently, the pro-polluter Senate majority has no problem with those and similar abuses being carried out by the Trump-Musk administration.
