Republican Attorneys General Planning to Mount Legal Challenges to Biden Agenda

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

 

It appears President Joe Biden’s effort to ram his agenda through using executive orders isn’t going to go unchallenged. According to a recent report, Republican attorneys general in various states are preparing to launch a series of legal challenges against the White House to oppose many of the numerous executive orders the president has issued.

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The Daily Caller reported:

In less than three months since President Joe Biden was sworn into office, Republican states have waged war on his agenda, suing the administration on climate change, energy, immigration and taxation policy. But the conservative attorneys general who started filing the lawsuits in March said they aren’t done yet and expect to continue challenging the administration in court.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry told the Daily Caller: “We are sharpening the pencils and filling up the inkwells.” He is currently leading two of the lawsuits against the White House. He indicated that there would be “plenty of legal action and success in court against the president and his administration.”

The officials challenging Biden’s executive orders view their strategy as an integral part of pushing back against his radical agenda on issues like gun control, immigration, and others.

From the Daily Caller:

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said Republican attorneys general believe that with a gridlocked Congress, states are the last line of defense for Constitutional rights. The attorney general added that he will continue to focus his efforts on Biden’s reliance on executive action, which the president has used to forward several key policy items.

During an interview, Knudsen said: “When you step in on day one and start issuing edicts and executive orders like King George, I and a lot of other conservative Republicans are going to start having problems.”

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He added: “State attorneys general are coming into their own and realizing they can be an effective pushback against an overreaching executive.”

Since taking office, Biden has issued a record number of executive orders. “Biden has signed 38 executive orders compared to former Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush who signed 23, 18 and 8 orders respectively during their first 11 weeks in office,” according to the Daily Caller.

Knudsen led 21 attorneys general in suing the White House over Biden’s executive order rescinding the federal permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. Montana linked up with Arizona to push back against Biden’s executive order halting deportations.

Landry, meanwhile, has led legal challenges against Biden over his executive order banning new oil and gas leases on federal lands and his orders that have allegedly contributed to immigration authorities releasing criminal illegal immigrants into the U.S.

The report also notes that West Virginia “led a group of 13 states challenging the Treasury Department over an American Rescue Plan provision prohibiting states from cutting taxes after accepting coronavirus relief funds.”

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey told the Daily Caller: “The Biden administration has already gone much further than Barack Obama. The Obama administration would sometimes pause on various topics and really be very sensitive to the public relations appearance.”

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He added: “Biden is going a lot further across the board.”

There are also plans to challenge Biden’s recent executive orders targeting gun rights.

These efforts mirror that of the legal challenges mounted by Democratic attorneys general against President Trump’s policies. They filed hundreds of lawsuits against the administration, and according to The Institute for Policy Integrity, almost 80% were successful.

But now, the shoe is on the other foot and it appears that these officials mean business. If the Democrats believe their president will successfully ram through his agenda through executive orders, they might have another think coming.

 

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