In Wisconsin and Michigan, Republicans are responding to their loss of top statewide offices in last month's elections by rapidly trying to undercut the Democrats about to take office. The gambit seems straight out of North Carolina, where Republicans used the lame-duck session after the 2016 elections to limit the power of the incoming Democratic governor in what one top Democrat called a “legislative coup”—and largely got away with it.
The Wisconsin legislature could vote as soon as Tuesday to limit the ability of Tony Evers, the incoming Democratic governor, to run state agencies and intervene in litigation without approval from the Republican-controlled legislature. Evers defeated two-term incumbent Governor Scott Walker in a closely fought election last month, ending years of one-party rule in Wisconsin. The proposals under consideration would also strip power from the incoming Democratic attorney general, Josh Kaul.
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