Wednesday Wrap: Waiting for Godot

A Senate committee on Wednesday did its own performance of "Waiting for Godot," staging a confirmation hearing for a cabinet nominee who senators knew wouldn't show up.

Posted 11:30 p.m. Feb 8, 2017 — Updated 11:30 p.m. Feb 8, 2017

RALEIGH, N.C. — A Senate committee on Wednesday did its own performance of "Waiting for Godot," staging a confirmation hearing for a cabinet nominee who senators knew wouldn't show up.

Former Rep. Larry Hall, D-Durham, had been scheduled to appear before the committee as Gov. Roy Cooper's choice to head the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, but a panel of three Superior Court judges late Tuesday put the new law calling for Senate confirmation of members of Cooper's cabinet on hold.

Republican senators turned the event into theater, blasting the court ruling, while their Democratic colleagues called the committee hearing a charade.

Meanwhile, a month into the 2017 legislative session, a bill finally cleared a chamber in the General Assembly. The House approved a measure that would cull the UNC Board of Governors over the next three years, from 32 to 24 members.

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