Takeover of governor’s appointment powers partly rejected by NC appeals court
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Court of Appeals blocks legislature's bid to strip governor's appointment power.
- Judges preserve governor's majority on Transportation, Economic, Public Health.
- Court upholds legislature's reassignment of appointments on four regulatory commissions.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals partially ruled in Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s favor Wednesday in his challenge of a law diminishing his appointments to several boards and commissions.
An all-Republican three-judge panel agreed with Stein that the legislature’s attempts to restructure three boards violated the state constitution. However, they upheld the General Assembly’s changes to four other boards.
The panel found that attempts to take Stein’s majority-appointment power and give it to the legislature “violated separation of powers” but upheld changes that gave some of Stein’s appointments to other members of the executive branch, like the commissioner of agriculture.
Judges agreed that Stein should retain majority control over the Board of Transportation, Economic Investment Committee and Commission for Public Health.
However, they refused to block changes to the Environmental Management Commission, the Coastal Resources Commission, the Wildlife Resources Commission and the Building Code Council.
The ruling largely upholds a similarly split 2024 decision from a lower court.
The lawsuit began in 2023, when Democrat Roy Cooper was still governor. After the Republican-controlled General Assembly overturned his veto to enact the sweeping changes, Cooper called the law a “legislative power grab” and sued.
Wednesday’s ruling comes as the Court of Appeals is set to consider another case dealing with the legislature’s attempts to weaken the governor’s powers.
Arguments had been scheduled for Wednesday, but are now delayed until later in October, in Stein’s challenge to a law that restricts his ability to fill vacancies on appellate courts.
This story was originally published October 15, 2025 at 9:27 AM.
