VOLUME 9 ISSUE 49 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2025
NSJONLINE.COM
BEN CURTIS / AP PHOTO
President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order relating to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina in the Oval Office last Thursday.
Lumbee Tribe moves closer to federal recognition
the
BRIEF this week
N.C. Supreme Court election case back in court Raleigh A federal appeals panel heard arguments Monday involving the still-unresolved November election for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat. Three judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, posed questions of attorneys for Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs, Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin and the State Board of Elections. No ruling was immediately announced after a 90-minute hearing. Riggs is ahead by fewer than 750 votes. Griffin seeks to remove more than 60,000 votes from the race tally. Monday’s legal arguments focused on whether Griffin’s efforts should be heard in federal court or remain in state court.
Mich. Sen. Peters won’t run for reelection Lansing, Mich. Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who led the Democrats’ Senate campaign efforts the past two election cycles, has announced he will not seek a third term in 2026, creating a highly contested battleground seat expected to be highly coveted by both parties. The 66-year-old’s unexpected decision Tuesday to step aside after just two terms comes as a surprise and poses a challenge for Democrats in Michigan during a turbulent period, likely dividing their strong bench between the gubernatorial and Senate race in 2026. Having lost Michigan in the presidential race, Peters’ decision forces Democrats to defend a critical Senate seat in Michigan without the advantage of an incumbent, complicating their efforts to regain control of the chamber in 2026.
NC joins lawsuit against Trump birthright order
RALEIGH — North Carolina’s new Democratic Attorney General Jeff Jackson has joined the lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birth-
By A.P. Dillon North State Journal
right citizenship for those born to individuals illegally or temporarily in the country. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, is brought by 18 Democratic state attorneys general,
RALEIGH — North Carolina’s Lumbee Tribe is one step closer to receiving federal recognition after action taken last week by President Donald Trump. “Considering the Lumbee Tribe’s historical and modern significance, it is the policy of the United States to support the full Federal recognition, including the authority to receive full Federal benefits, of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina,” Trump’s memorandum to the secretary of the Interior states. “I love the Lumbee Tribe,” Trump said while signing the memorandum among other items last Thursday. The memorandum directs the secretary of the Interior to submit a plan to aid the Lumbee Tribe in obtaining full federal recognition through legislation or other available
See LAWSUIT, page A2
See LUMBEE, page A3
New Attorney General Jeff Jackson joined several other Democrats in opposing the effort to reshape the 14th Amendment By A.P. Dillon North State Journal
President Donald Trump directed the Department of the Interior to aid the tribe’s efforts
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ASHLEY WHITE / NORTH STATE JOURNAL
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Longtime conservative consultant Carter Wrenn, who worked on campaigns in North Carolina for a half-century, has revealed many of the most interesting stories from his life in politics in his new book, “The Trail of the Serpent: Stories from the Smoke‑Filled Rooms of Politics.” Wrenn sat down with North State Journal to discuss his book. Read more on A3.
“We will keep working to get the Lumbee Fairness Act passed and signed into law.” Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.)