WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) renewed his calls today for the U.S. Senate to vote on the Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enactments of the Law (ENFORCE the Law) Act, a bill that he introduced to ensure the president upholds his constitutional obligation to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
Blunt expressed his support for House Speaker John Boehner’s (Ohio) announcement yesterday that he plans to pursue measures to sue President Barack Obama “in an effort to compel the president to follow his oath of office and faithfully execute the laws of our country.”
“It’s time for Congress to tell President Obama: You cannot ignore the law. The president’s ‘pen and phone’ do not supersede the U.S. Constitution,” said Blunt. “The House already passed this bill, and the Senate should allow a vote immediately. The president has a constitutional responsibility to faithfully execute the laws of our country.”
The ENFORCE the Law Act puts a procedure in place to allow Congress to authorize a lawsuit against the executive branch for failure to faithfully execute the laws in an effort to ensure the president upholds his constitutional obligation to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” The bill also provides for expedited consideration of any such lawsuit, first through a three-judge panel at the federal district court level, and then by providing for direct appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Additional Background Information:
The ENFORCE the Law Act provides that if the president, or any other officer or employee of the United States, establishes or implements a formal or informal policy to refrain from enforcing any provision of federal law in violation of the requirement that the president “take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” the House or the Senate may, by adoption of a resolution, authorize a civil action to seek declaratory or injunctive relief. Any such lawsuit may be brought by the House of Representatives, the Senate, or both Houses of Congress jointly.
The bill also provides for expedited consideration of any case brought by Congress pursuant to the bill’s provisions. First, the bill provides that any such action shall be filed in a federal district court of competent jurisdiction and that the court shall convene a three-judge panel to hear the case. Second, the bill provides that the three-judge panel’s decision is appealable directly to the United States Supreme Court. Finally, the district courts and the Supreme Court are required to expedite any case filed pursuant to this legislation.
The bill is intended to address procedural hurdles the courts have put in front of previous attempts by individual Members of Congress, and ad hoc groups of Members, to seek judicial review of alleged failures by the president to faithfully execute the law. The courts have held that when Congress or one House of Congress suffers an institutional injury, the Congress or a House of Congress must authorize any lawsuit aimed at redressing the injury. This bill puts a procedure in place to allow for such authorization and expedites judicial review of such decisions to ensure decisions are made in a timely manner by the courts.