A provision of North Carolina’s newly-passed state budget would create a “secret police” force, critics say, which would be run by a state legislative committee that is currently managed by Republicans.

After months of negotiations, the state budget passed in late September; the bill became law without Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s signature 10 days later. Cooper could not block the bill because Republicans have a veto-proof majority in the legislature, and North Carolina law does not allow the governor to make line-item vetoes.

A provision that was widely criticized by Democratic members of the legislature empowers the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations — sometimes referred to as Gov Ops — to conduct investigations into “possible instances of misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance, mismanagement, waste, abuse, or illegal conduct” by other state or local agencies or private companies or individuals who […]