AUSTIN – Monday, the Texas Public Policy Foundation filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for implementing a rule stemming from the December 2022 omnibus spending bill. A U.S. District Court previously concluded that Congress violated the Quorum Clause when it allowed a majority of its Members to vote on the bill by proxy. The Constitution’s Quorum Clause requires a majority of Members be physically present to vote on legislation. Yet only 201 Representatives voted in person on this $2 trillion spending bill. 

One part of this bill is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which requires employers to provide new and costly accommodations. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) went further and issued a regulation requiring employers to provide leave for an employee to obtain an abortion. Because this regulation was implemented under a void statue, it is invalid. 

“We are continuing to see illegal regulations, like these, that are based on a law that was passed in violation of the Constitution.” said TPPF senior attorney Matt Miller. “When neither Congress nor executive agencies take their duties under the Constitution seriously, courts must step in.” 

“Congress was on notice for two and a half years that its proxy voting rule was Constitutionally suspect,” added TPPF attorney Eric Heigis. “Yet in December 2022, when the rest of the world had returned to normal, Congress was still allowing its Members to phone it in. This case advances a simple principle: the Constitution requires Members of Congress to show up to do their job.” 

To read the text of the complaint, click here.

 

Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit free-market research institute based in Austin that aims to foster human flourishing by protecting and promoting liberty, opportunity, and personal responsibility. The Center for the American Future defends the Constitution through legal opposition to government overreach. The Center launches legal challenges at the administrative, district, and appellate court levels on behalf of ordinary people whose lives, liberty, and property are threatened by government action in defiance of the Constitution. 

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