NC governor, legislature head to court in power showdown

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — North Carolina’s new Democratic governor and the majority-Republican Legislature are locked in a battle over constitutional powers, a confrontation that could shape the state’s conservative direction of state policies and spending.

The confrontation in Raleigh continues Tuesday, when the two branches of state government appear for a court hearing before the third. A panel of three trial judges hears from lawyers for Gov. Roy Cooper and attorneys for the state legislative leaders over whether a series of new laws diminishing the governor’s powers are constitutional.

The challenged laws require Cooper’s picks to run 10 state agencies to be approved by the GOP-led Senate, strips the governor’s control over running elections, slashes his hiring options and gives civil service protections to hundreds of political appointees of former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory.

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