Evers sues Joint Finance Committee over DOJ powers

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Gov. Tony Evers is suing the Legislature’s powerful Joint Finance Committee once again, arguing a 2018 law requiring its approval before the state Department of Justice can resolve civil suits is unconstitutional.

The move comes less than a year after the Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously struck down other aspects of the committee’s approval process.
The challenge, filed on April 7 in Dane County Circuit Court, focuses on legislation passed by Republican lawmakers during a lame-duck special session just before Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul, both Democrats, took office.

The suit claims the GOP-controlled Legislature gave the finance committee veto power over how the DOJ resolves potential litigation against federal agency rules in cases where state lawmakers aren’t involved. It alleges the lame-duck law also prevents the DOJ from drafting settlement agreements providing injunctive relief without JFC approval in cases where individuals sue the state.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of a unanimous Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling in June 2025 where justices concluded the attorney general, not the Legislature, should have the authority to resolve lawsuits related to “core executive powers.”

Writing for the majority in that case, conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn said there is “no constitutional justification for requiring JFC sign-off on settlement agreements within these categories of cases.”

With that win behind them, Evers and Kaul argue the two other JFC approval requirements in the lame-duck handcuffing the DOJ are still intact and still unconstitutional.

“Legislative veto power over how the Department resolves such actions, just as with the types of cases at issue in Kaul, violates the Wisconsin Constitution’s separation of powers,” the lawsuit claims.

The legal battles over the line between Evers’ executive powers and lawmakers’ legislative authority have raged since 2018, eventually heading to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. While the 2025 Supreme Court decision was unanimous, earlier rulings between the governor and legislature have often been split along the court’s ideological fault lines.

In 2020, the court’s former conservative majority sided with Republicans when it found that “in at least some cases” the Legislature can give itself the power to approve or reject civil cases prosecuted by the DOJ.

In July 2023, after liberals took control, the court issued a 6-1 ruling that found that GOP lawmakers overstepped their constitutional authority by using the Joint Finance Committee to block conservation land purchases. Then, in July 2025, the court’s liberal majority ruled in Evers’ favor again arguing that a different GOP-led committee went too far when it blocked a state agency rule banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ youth.