North Dakota Lawmakers Not Inclined to Sue Over Veto

 Senate Majority Leader David Hogue. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota lawmakers are unlikely to take the executive branch to court over a disagreement over the governor’s veto power, Legislative Management members indicated.

The dispute arose in May, after the legislative session, when Gov. Kelly Armstrong’s office accidentally appeared to line-item veto $35 million in housing funding.

Armstrong had intended to veto $150,000 the 2025 Legislature set aside for a Native American homelessness liaison, but a staff member mistakenly also crossed out $25 million for affordable housing and $10 million for homelessness in a markup of the bill.

The Attorney General’s Office last month issued an opinion finding that the inadvertent markup  was not an issue because Armstrong had been sufficiently clear about what he intended to veto in his memo, and so the Legislature need not take further action.