Court Rules Congress Violated Constitution With $1.7 Trillion Spending Bill

Margot Cleveland of the Federalist highlights a significant court ruling.

Congress lacked the constitutionally required quorum to pass the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, a federal court ruled Tuesday. Accordingly, the Biden administration cannot enforce the new mandates imposed on Texas by the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which was part of the omnibus spending bill. However, Tuesday’s ruling left untouched the $1.7 trillion in appropriations, and with most of the money already spent, there is no real remedy for the Democrat-controlled Congress and White House’s blatant disregard for the Constitution.

Last month, federal Judge James Hendrix held a bench trial in State of Texas v. Dept. of Justice, a lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against the Biden administration. In that lawsuit, Paxton challenged the constitutionality of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 based on the “quorum clause” of the U.S. Constitution. …

… Texas’ lawsuit argued that when the House voted on the final version of the omnibus spending bill on Dec. 23, 2022, it lacked a quorum to conduct business because only 201 of the members were physically present that day, which was less than a majority of the total number of voting House members, 435. 

The House, under the control of Democrats and then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, opted, however, to apply a proxy-voting rule that allowed absent representatives to have other members of the House cast votes on their behalf. The result? The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 passed with a tally of 225 yeas, 201 nays, and 1 present. President Joe Biden then signed the bill on Dec. 29, 2022, purporting to make it law.

On Tuesday, Judge Hendrix concluded “that, by including members who were indisputably absent in the quorum count, the Act at issue passed in violation of the Constitution’s Quorum Clause.” However, the federal court also held that Texas only had standing, or the right to sue, to challenge one portion of the act, namely the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA).