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NC Senate votes to ban Attorney General Jeff Jackson from suing Trump. Critics fear 'unchecked power'
Democratic Attorney General Jeff Jackson has recently sued over several of Republican President Donald Trump's executive orders, blocking attempts to undo birthright citizenship and slash funding for medical research, among other efforts.
The North Carolina Senate voted along party lines Wednesday to ban the state's attorney general from suing the president over any executive orders — a surprise vote announced only moments ahead of time.
The immediate effect of the Republican-backed bill, if it becomes law, would be to prevent Democratic Attorney General Jeff Jackson from suing Republican President Donald Trump again.
Jackson has recently sued over several of Trump's executive orders. Jackson and other state Democratic attorneys general have defeated the Trump administration in the early stages of those legal battles — winning court rulings that have blocked Trump's attempts to undo birthright citizenship and to slash grants for medical research that fund thousands of jobs in North Carolina, among other efforts.
"If a future executive order threatens North Carolina’s industries and jobs, where would the people of North Carolina turn to to find recourse?" asked Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed, D-Mecklenburg, during debate over the bill. "Should we just remain silent?"
GOP lawmakers say they dislike Jackson being allowed to use taxpayer dollars to sue Trump, accusing Jackson of using the lawsuits for his own political gain.
Wednesday's 28-17 vote approving the ban on future lawsuits isn't technically final yet. Democratic lawmakers, in an act of protest, used a procedural move to force the Senate to vote on it again next week. But that vote will largely be a formality, after which the bill will head to the state House.
Democrats said Wednesday that Republicans ought to remember when Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden enacted controversial executive orders of their own, it was Republican attorneys general who sued over those, just as Democratic attorneys general are suing Trump now. These kinds of lawsuits are a common and necessary check on the power of the presidency, in defense of states' rights, they said.
“Unchecked power, whether held by a Republican or a Democrat, is a threat to democracy," Mohammed said. "If you pass this bill today, this body risks setting a dangerous precedent that limits our state’s ability to push back against federal policies that undermine our industries, our economy, our rights and our values.”
Retaliation possible?
As the bill was winding its way through committees in February, Sen. Julie Mayfield, D-Buncombe, questioned what the legislature would do if Jackson simply ignored them and kept doing what he thought was necessary to represent the best interests of the state.
"The attorney general is an independently elected office," she said. "What happens if he ignores this? You can’t impeach him."
The lead sponsor of the bill Sen. Tim Moffitt, R-Henderson, said lawmakers could find ways to retaliate against Jackson — if it came to that — and might simply repeal every state law that gives the attorney general any powers or duties.
"Just zero it out," Moffitt said. "That way, the attorney general is just a feckless, empty shell who has no ability to do anything."
The legislature has also previously used the state budget to punish fellow politicians. When Stein was in his first year as attorney general in 2017, GOP lawmakers slashed his budget by millions of dollars in what was seen as retaliation for litigation Stein had filed against Trump during Trump's first term in office, as well as for Stein challenging some of the legislature's actions as unconstitutional.
The attorney general's office is widely seen as a stepping stone to more powerful positions such as governor or U.S. Senate. No Republican has won an election for attorney general in North Carolina since the 1800s, however.
And now, following Jackson's 2024 defeat of Republican Dan Bishop, top GOP legislators say the office has too much power and needs to be reigned in.
In December the legislature slashed a number of other powers of the AG's office, in a bill targeting Jackson as well as new Gov. Josh Stein and other Democrats who won electionto state offices in 2024. In part, they banned Jackson from arguing in court that anything the legislature does is unconstitutional.
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