NC attorney general defends lawsuits vs. Trump, says his duty is to be 'nonpartisan shield' for state

Avi Bajpai, The Charlotte Observer on Feb 26, 2025

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As GOP lawmakers moved quickly to advance a bill that would block Attorney General Jeff Jackson from challenging President Donald Trump’s executive orders, Jackson’s office defended the lawsuits he has joined so far.

Republicans have criticized Jackson for signing onto a handful of legal challenges against Trump’s early executive actions in office that have been brought by coalitions of Democratic state attorneys general, and said that Jackson should be focused on issues affecting North Carolina instead.

Jackson’s office said in response on Wednesday that the four lawsuits he has joined so far challenge policies that directly impact the state.

“The attorney general’s duty is to be a nonpartisan shield for the people of North Carolina,” said Jackson spokesman Ben Conroy. “More than 70 federal executive orders have been issued. Attorney General Jackson has filed four federal lawsuits to protect billions in funding for western North Carolina, our public universities and rural jobs. In each case, judges across the country have agreed that the federal government’s actions were likely unlawful or unconstitutional.”

Conroy added that “any legislation that undermines the independence of the Attorney General’s Office is bad for our state and its people.”

The lawsuits Jackson has joined targeted Trump’s executive orders attempting to ban birthright citizenship, pausing federal grants and other funding while the administration conducts a review, and granting the government efficiency effort led by Elon Musk access to federal payment systems at the U.S. Treasury Department.

The fourth and most recent lawsuit Jackson joined with other Democratic attorneys general sought to block what they said were “unlawful” cuts to grant funding from the National Institutes of Health for indirect medical research payments.

Federal judges have granted requests by the states suing the administration in each of the four cases North Carolina has joined to temporarily block the policies from going into effect.

The bill being advanced by Republicans in the N.C. Senate this week blocks the attorney general from participating in any state or federal lawsuits that seek to invalidate any executive order issued by the president.

During a committee meeting on Wednesday, Senate Democrats asked Republicans if they would support blocking the attorney general from challenging executive orders if last year’s election had gone differently, and former Vice President Kamala Harris had defeated Trump, and former U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop had defeated Jackson in the attorney general’s race.

Democrats also noted that Jackson has challenged only a handful of the 73 executive orders Trump has issued since taking office.

Senate leader Phil Berger said Wednesday that Jackson should focus on “working for the people of North Carolina.”

Responding to the argument made by Democrats that the lawsuits Jackson has joined are challenging policies that may negatively impact the state, Berger reiterated his argument that North Carolinians backed Trump’s agenda, and said that Jackson should be “respectful” of that and “adhere to the will of the voters.”

The bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and will be taken up by the Senate Rules Committee on Thursday morning. Berger said he expects it to be voted on by the full Senate next week.

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