Idaho Gov. Brad Little repeals Lt. Gov. McGeachin’s executive order — from Texas
Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday fulfilled his promise to repeal Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin’s executive order — but did so hours before expected, while he was still in Texas.
And Little seemed to challenge the legal presumption that he must surrender power when he’s out of state.
In a new executive order, Little said that the lieutenant governor’s actions Tuesday “were without legal authority” and that his presence in Texas on official business doesn’t “impair my ability to represent the people of Idaho.” He said this action was “to ensure the continuity of state government.”
“The founders of our Constitution did not permit, nor would they now sanction, a lieutenant governor’s actions to subvert or supplant the policies of an otherwise capable, qualified, and duly elected governor,” Little wrote.
The Idaho Constitution places the governor’s duties under the lieutenant governor “in case of temporary inability to perform his duties, or in the case of his temporary absence from the state.”
Little issued his executive order at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday but was not expected back in Idaho until late Wednesday night. Such a move from Little, hours before he’s expected to return to the state, could lay the foundation for a legal challenge.
McGeachin’s office didn’t immediately return a request for comment Wednesday afternoon. The Idaho Attorney General’s Office declined to comment, and the governor’s office didn’t respond to a request for further comment.
McGeachin’s executive order Tuesday would have banned all state agencies from requiring proof of a COVID-19 vaccine or requiring COVID-19 testing, and it also would have applied to public schools. She also signaled her desire to deploy the Idaho National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border, but was shot down by Maj. Gen. Michael J. Garshak, adjutant general.
Little’s executive order to ban “vaccine passports” in April prohibited proof of a COVID-19 vaccine to work or access all state facilities. In his new executive order, Little said it was necessary to repeal McGeachin’s order “in its entirety to reverse the misuse of executive authority, preserve the rule of law, protect Idahoans, and eliminate any confusion created by the lieutenant governor’s unlawful action.”
Idaho has implemented crisis standards of care statewide in response to the COVID-19 crisis, as the state continues to be overwhelmed by hospitalizations, with the vast majority of patients being unvaccinated. State officials as of Wednesday reported more than 3,000 COVID-19-related deaths.
This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 7:11 PM.
