Dana Nessel/Facebook
Michigan attorney general-elect Dana Nessel.
Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed a bill that would have stripped power from Democratic Attorney General-elect Dana Nessel.
The proposed legislation was among the most controversial introduced during the GOP-controlled legislature's
House Bill 6553 would have granted the Republican-led legislature authority to jump into any court case in which residents challenged the GOP's unpopular laws. Nessel previously said she would not use state resources to fight for laws that she sees as unconstitutional, such as one that allows adoption agencies to choose not to adopt to same-sex couples.
Democrats had promised a legal challenge, and many experts viewed the proposed law as clearly unconstitutional because they believe it would've violated the Michigan Constitution's separation of powers clause, which in part states: “No person exercising powers of one branch shall exercise powers properly belonging to another branch, except as expressly provided in this constitution.”
In short, the Republican-led legislature would have been attempting to litigate and enforce the law, which is the job of the executive branch.
A similarly controversial bill that would have stripped power from incoming Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson died in the legislature.
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