With new lawsuit, Beshear tries to stop KY lawmakers’ moves on executive power
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has again gone to court to challenge Republican-backed efforts to shift powers within Kentucky’s executive branch.
Beshear’s latest lawsuit, filed in Franklin Circuit Court after the 2026 legislative session ended, is aimed at blocking House Bill 10. The legislation, which the GOP-controlled General Assembly approved over the governor’s veto, would give the attorney general and state treasurer oversight of some actions a governor may take before an inauguration, or when a new gubernatorial term begins.
“House Bill 10 targets several powers of the Governor and the Executive Branch and violates multiple sections of the Kentucky Constitution,” attorneys for Beshear wrote in an April filing. They added the legislation “violates the bedrock separation of powers” in the Kentucky Constitution and “usurps the Governor’s supreme executive authority.”
Changes in the law include letting the attorney general, along with the Finance and Administration Cabinet secretary, approve or disapprove any legal settlement above $1 million involving the executive branch 180 days before an inauguration. Also 180 days before an inauguration, executive branch agencies can only enter or renew contracts by noncompetitive negotiation if the Finance and Administration Cabinet secretary and the state treasurer approve it. Additionally, the law gives the Senate confirmation power over the governor’s cabinet secretary appointments.
Republicans Attorney General Russell Coleman and State Treasurer Mark Metcalf are named in Beshear’s lawsuit, along with the Senate clerk. Personnel Cabinet Secretary Mary Elizabeth Bailey and Finance and Administration Cabinet Secretary Holly M. Johnson also joined Beshear in the lawsuit.
“Once again, the Republican supermajority is ignoring the needs of Kentucky families and instead playing politics,” said Scottie Ellis, a spokesperson for Beshear. “In doing so, they ignore and violate the state constitution so they can take authority from a governor elected by the people and transfer it to someone from their own party.”
In a responding court filing, the Attorney General’s office asked the Franklin court to wait on ruling on the matter as other lawsuits are pending before the Kentucky Supreme Court regarding the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. Plus, the next inauguration will be after Beshear’s term ends in 2027.
“By exercising restraint now, this Court may address the Governor’s constitutional arguments more economically, with the Supreme Court’s ruling in hand,” the attorney general’s office lawyers wrote. “This will allow for more consistent analysis in the Governor’s several constitutional challenges.”
When he filed the bill earlier this year, Rep. John Hodgson, R-Fisherville, said in a House Republicans press release that the previous system had “little political accountability” for a governor’s final actions in office.
In early May, Franklin Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate signed an order giving both sides time to file additional motions and responses after an April hearing. He denied the attorney general’s office request for a stay.