NC GOP wants to override 5 more vetoes. What are they, and when could they happen?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- GOP lawmakers seek override of five vetoed bills on DEI, immigration and guns.
- House Republicans need Democratic defections or absences to secure overrides.
- Legislature may vote on remaining bills during sporadic sessions into 2026.
Republican state lawmakers managed to override Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes of eight bills last week, and took the first step toward overriding four more.
In total, there are five vetoed bills that GOP lawmakers could still decide to take up and try to enact over Stein’s objections.
Three of the bills target diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in public schools (Senate Bill 227), higher education (Senate Bill 558), and state and local government (House Bill 171).
Another would require state law enforcement agencies to work closely with federal immigration authorities (Senate Bill 153).
The last bill would make it legal to carry a concealed handgun in North Carolina without obtaining a permit, as is currently required under law, and lower the age from 21 to 18 (Senate Bill 50).
Defeating a veto requires a three-fifths majority in each chamber.
Republicans currently meet that threshold in the Senate with the exact number of seats needed, which is why they were able to vote to override every one of Stein’s vetoes that was before them last week — 12 in total.
In the House, they’re one seat short. That means the GOP needs at least one Democrat to join them, or needs to take advantage of multiple Democratic absences, to record a successful vote in the House and complete the process.
How House Republicans bridged the gap on eight bills last week
Defections by four House Democrats last week (Reps. Carla Cunningham and Nasif Majeed of Charlotte, Rep. Shelly Willingham of Rocky Mount, and Rep. Cecil Brockman of High Point) allowed Republicans to bridge that gap in the lower chamber and override eight of Stein’s vetoes.
Cunningham, Willingham, and Majeed drew attention in particular for casting the deciding votes that ensured bills dealing with sexuality and religion in schools, local law enforcement cooperation with immigration authorities, and private schools being able to arm teachers would become law.
On the other bills, House Republicans did not appear to have the votes they needed, and that’s why the five remaining bills were left alone. (Override votes must start in the chamber where the bill originated, which is why the Senate couldn’t take up one of the five, the House’s anti-DEI bill that applies to state and local government, since the House didn’t take it up to begin with.)
It seemed likely the GOP would have more difficulty finding Democratic support for those five bills since each of them were initially passed in party-line votes without any Democrats in the House joining Republicans in support.
One of them, SB 50, which would allow concealed carry of guns without a permit, actually passed with two House Republicans breaking ranks with their party and voting against the bill, further complicating the math for leadership.
When can House Republicans call votes on the remaining five bills?
House Speaker Destin Hall said after the override votes last week that the vetoed bills the House took up “were the ones that I felt sure of.”
Hall said he was confident House Republicans will be able to take up the remaining bills, but added the caveat that it could be a while before that happens, saying he expected those votes to take place “at some point during this biennium.”
“I am sincerely optimistic that of all the bills right now that have not been overridden, that have been vetoed, I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to override those,” Hall said.
Legislative work takes place over a two-year biennium. Lawmakers are currently adjourned to return to Raleigh for a few days every month or so through the beginning of a short session next spring.
Once a bill has been vetoed and returned to the General Assembly, it can be taken up for an override vote at any point during the rest of the two-year period. That means votes on the five remaining bills could come during one of the remaining session days scheduled for this year, or even next year.
Under an adjournment resolution House and Senate Republicans agreed on last week, lawmakers will return to Raleigh this year on Aug. 26-28, Sept. 22-25, Oct. 21, Nov. 18, and Dec. 16.
Additional dates are laid out for the first four months of 2026.
This story was originally published August 6, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
