Welcome to the Wednesday, December 11, Brew.
By: Briana Ryan
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Lame-duck session ballot measures in North Carolina
- Donald Trump (R) has announced all of his Cabinet nominees
- Voters in Mateo County, California, to decide on charter amendment to allow supervisors to remove elected sheriff for cause
Lame-duck session ballot measures in North Carolina
Heading into the 2024 general election, North Carolina was one of four states with a governor of one party and a supermajority of the opposing party. The state had a Democratic governor, while Republicans had a 30-20 majority in the state Senate and a 72-48 majority in the state House.
A supermajority is when one party controls enough seats to overturn a governor’s veto without any support from the other party. Supermajorities are the most important states, such as North Carolina, where the governor belongs to the opposite party as the veto-proof legislature. However, the next session’s makeup will look slightly different after North Carolina lost its supermajority status due to the 2024 general election.
While Republicans maintained their 30-20 majority in the state Senate, their majority in the state House decreased to a 71-49 majority. As a result, when legislators are sworn in on Jan. 1, the legislature will no longer have a supermajority in both chambers.
However, the North Carolina General Assembly is still in session until Dec. 13. One direct result of the legislature’s lame-duck session is that the legislature can still move ballot measures, which requires supermajority approval. North Carolina is one of nine states that requires approval from 60% of both legislative chambers to place a measure on the ballot. Two bills have seen action so far—SB 920 and SB 921. The state Senate passed both constitutional amendments along party lines. Republicans supported the amendments, and Democrats opposed them.
The state Senate passed both constitutional amendments on Dec. 2, which voters would decide in November 2026. One amendment, SB 920, would reduce the maximum income tax rate from 7% to 5%. The other, SB 921, would require all voters to provide photo identification to vote. In North Carolina, voter ID is currently required for those voting in person but is not required for those voting by mail.
If the state House votes on the constitutional amendments by the end of December, Republicans can place them on the ballot without any Democratic support before their supermajority ends. The governor cannot veto proposed constitutional amendments. For them to be ratified, voters must give them a simple majority at the next general election, which will be held on Nov. 3, 2026.
During their lame-duck session, the state Senate also approved SB 382. The bill, among other changes, would provide additional appropriations for disaster recovery, modify the attorney general’s powers and duties, and change the appointment process for filling Supreme Court and Court of Appeals vacancies. Gov. Roy Cooper (D) vetoed the bill on Nov. 26, but the state Senate overrode his veto. If the state House does the same, the changes will become law.
Another legislature that is working to move legislation in their lame-duck session is the Michigan Legislature. Before the 2024 general election, the legislature was one of 17 states with a Democratic trifecta. However, Republicans gained control of the state House due to the 2024 general election. According to the Detroit Free Press’ Clara Hendrickson, House Speaker Joseph Tate (D) said some of his personal priorities in the lame duck session would include “increasing Michigan’s unemployment benefits, creating a new fund to support public safety and violence prevention measures and water affordability.” The legislative session will end on Dec. 23.
While legislators in North Carolina, Michigan, and 28 other states will be sworn in in the new year, legislators in 15 other states have already been sworn in.
Donald Trump (R) has announced all of his Cabinet nominees
With Inauguration Day just a bit more than a month away, President-elect Donald Trump (R) spent the last week putting the finishing touches on his Cabinet. Trump finished announcing his Cabinet-level nominees on Dec. 4, with the announcement of Kelly Loeffler (R) as his nominee for administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
A presidential Cabinet is a group of senior federal officials who advise the president on the issues and activities of their respective agencies. The number of officials in a Cabinet can vary across presidential administrations. While not explicitly identified in the Constitution, the Cabinet secretaries are the 15 agency heads in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is also part of the Cabinet. Our count of Cabinet and Cabinet-level positions is based on the 24 positions that were a part of the beginning of his first term.
Trump announced his full Cabinet by the 29th day following the general election. That’s 37 days faster than Barack Obama (D) in 2008, 43 days faster than Trump in 2016, and 40 days faster than Joe Biden (D) in 2020. The following chart shows how long the projected winner of four recent presidential elections—Obama in 2008, Trump in 2016, Biden in 2020, and Trump in 2024—announced their nominees for Cabinet and Cabinet-level positions.
- The White House chief of staff was the first position announced by all four, with Obama and Trump ahead of his second term taking the shortest time (2 days after the election) and Biden the longest (8 days after the election).
- As of Dec. 4, Trump had named all 23 Cabinet nominees. At this point after election day, Biden had announced seven Cabinet-level positions in 2020, Trump had announced 13 in 2016, and Obama had announced nine in 2008. It took Trump 72 days to name all 23 nominees for these positions in 2016.
- Trump announced these nominees an average of 11.9 days after election day. Biden’s average for the same positions was 39.6 days after election day, Trump’s first term average was 30.9 days after election day, and Obama’s average was 36.4 days after election day.
Voters in San Mateo County, California, to decide on charter amendment to allow supervisors to remove elected sheriff for cause
Voters in San Mateo County, California, will decide on a charter amendment to allow the County Board of Supervisors to remove Sheriff Christina Corpus from office for cause through a four-fifths (4 of 5) vote. The charter amendment would expire on Dec. 31, 2028. Voters will decide on the charter amendment at a special election on March 4, 2025.
The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0, with one member absent, to refer the charter amendment to the ballot. In a statement, the supervisors said the “ballot measure is the fastest way to give voters a voice” regarding Sheriff Christina Corpus. The board cited an investigative report from retired Judge LaDoris Cordell, which said, “Lies, secrecy, intimidation, retaliation, conflicts of interest, and abuses of authority are the hallmarks of the Corpus administration.” The Board of Supervisors also voted to demand Sheriff Corpus to resign.
Sheriff Corpus said the board pursued “amendments that erode democratic accountability.” She added, “Resigning from my position or relinquishing the independence of this Office is not the answer. Such actions would set a dangerous precedent, jeopardizing the progress we’ve made and the meaningful change our voters entrusted me to deliver.”
In San Mateo County, voters elect the sheriff to a six-year term. The last election was on June 7, 2022, when Christina Corpus defeated incumbent Carlos Bolanos. Corpus received 56.9% of the vote. The next election is scheduled for 2028.
In California, the state constitution requires sheriffs to be elected, a requirement that voters approved via Proposition 6 in 1978. The vote was 3,276,230 (60.8%) to 2,109,533 (39.2%). Before Proposition 6, state law required voters in non-chartered counties to elect sheriffs. However, charter counties could decide whether to have a sheriff and whether the position was elected or appointed.
San Mateo County is not the first where voters will decide on a charter amendment authorizing the board of supervisors to remove sheriffs. In 2022, voters in Los Angeles County approved Measure A, which allowed the board of supervisors to remove the elected sheriff from office for cause through a four-fifths vote.
In even-numbered years, California voters decide hundreds of measures; the number of local measures has ranged from about 530 to over 800 in the last three two-year cycles. In odd-numbered years, local voters generally decide between 100 and 200 measures. From 2019 to 2024, voters in San Mateo County decided on 71 local measures in the last three even-numbered years and 10 in the previous three odd-numbered years.
So far in 2025, the charter amendment is the only local measure on the ballot in San Mateo County. It’s also one of three local measures on the ballot in California in 2025.
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