Attacks on executive independence
Legislation or institutional action by another branch that removes, transfers, or curtails the lawful statutory authority of an independently elected executive official or body -- a governor, attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, or similar -- rather than contesting their decisions through ordinary politics. It matters because voters elect these officials to exercise particular powers; stripping the powers after the election nullifies the result without repealing it.
2026 Events (1)
North Carolina General Assembly enacted HB268, ousting Secretary of State Marshall from oversight board and expanding Senate hold on Cabinet
On August 11, 2026, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein signed House Bill 268 into law as Session Law 2026-61, enacting a Republican-authored provision that removed Democratic Secretary of State Elaine Marshall from the state's Local Government Commission and gave the Senate a check on which of the governor's Cabinet appointees may keep their jobs. The Senate gave the bill final passage July 29 and the House adopted it August 4, continuing a decade-long pattern of the Republican-controlled General Assembly using must-pass budget vehicles to strip statutory authority from Democratic statewide officeholders.