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Lame Duck Dynasty

Protestors sit in the Capitol Rotunda waiting to hear about legislation in a special session called by Republicans on December 4, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin Republicans are trying to pass a series of proposals that will weaken the authority of Gov.-elect Tony Evers and incoming Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul.
Andy Manis/Getty Images
Protestors sit in the Capitol Rotunda waiting to hear about legislation in a special session called by Republicans on December 4, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin Republicans are trying to pass a series of proposals that will weaken the authority of Gov.-elect Tony Evers and incoming Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul.

In Wisconsin, outgoing GOP legislators just voted to weaken the power of incoming Democratic governor Tony Evers and the incoming state’s attorney general.

From NBC:

The bill would weaken the governor’s ability to put in place rules that enact laws and shield the state jobs agency from his control until September. It would also limit early voting to no more than two weeks before an election, a restriction similar to what a federal judge ruled was unconstitutional. Democrats were optimistic it would be rejected by the courts again.

The proposal would also weaken the attorney general’s office by requiring a legislative committee, rather than the attorney general, to sign off on withdrawing from federal lawsuits. That would stop Evers and Kaul from fulfilling their campaign promises to withdraw Wisconsin from a multi-state lawsuit seeking repeal of the Affordable Care Act. They made opposition to that lawsuit a central part of both of their campaigns.

Similar efforts were also reported in Michigan, and also in Arizona’s Maricopa County.

From The New York Times:

In Arizona’s Maricopa County — with 4.3 million residents, the nation’s fourth most populous — the Republican-dominated board of supervisors said last month that it was studying a takeover of some Election Day logistics now handled by the county recorder, a newly elected Democrat. The supervisors have said they have a nonpartisan interest in improving the county’s elections.

What’s happening in statehouses ahead of a transfer of power? Is this what democracy looks like?

GUESTS

Molly Beck, Capitol Reporter, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; @MollyBeck

Cheyna Roth, Capitol Reporter, Michigan Public Radio Network; @Cheyna_R

Norman Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; Co-Author, “One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate and the Not-Yet Deported”; @NormOrnstein

For more, visit https://the1a.org.

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