Republican general counsels have doubled down on the Biden administration’s lawsuits as the president prepares to leave office
President Biden will be in office for less than two weeks, but that isn’t stopping Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, both Republicans, from taking the Biden administration to court over new energy-efficient housing standards they say undermine affordable housing. housing and go beyond what federal law allows.
This isn’t the only late lawsuit or complaint filed against the Biden White House in recent days, and it marks Paxton’s 103. lawsuit challenging democratic governance.
“So I don’t know if anyone is close to it, but he kept us busy because we had to stop him from being more of a king or a dictator than an elected executive that is responsible for implementing, not making, laws,” Paxton told Fox News Digital in the interview.
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President Biden has repeatedly targeted the fossil fuel industry as part of his broad climate agenda. (Getty Images)
Paxton said they “may have another” lawsuit on the way, but they may not have it ready in time.
Along with Utah and Texas, the states participating in the lawsuit with the National Association of House builders are Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. The coalition argues that the administration’s energy standards are not only burdensome, but exceed the authority granted by Congress.
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“Even as our nation prepares to transition to a new administration, the outgoing HUD and USDA offices are committed to inflicting unwanted and unnecessary cost increases on Americans who are already struggling to pay bills, provide for their families, and ensure a brighter future for their children.” , Reyes said in a statement.
The Biden administration has argued that these rules will save money by making homes more energy efficient. However, critics argue that the rules increase upfront costs and reduce options for buyers.
The lawsuit also questions whether the board had the legal authority to enforce those rules. Attorneys general say the administration is relying on private organizations, such as the International Rules Council, to set standards that go beyond what the original law intended.
The Biden administration’s actions remove about 6 million acres of potentially oil-rich leases from the upcoming federal lease sale. (Getty Images)
Biden’s renewable energy agenda has been a controversial flashpoint for energy critics over the past four years. On Monday, Biden also signed an executive action banning new and further drilling oil and natural gas development on more than 625 million acres of US coastal and offshore waters.
Trump’s press secretary quickly slammed the order on X.
“This is a disgraceful decision designed to take political revenge on the American people who gave President Trump a mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices. Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail and we will drill, baby, drill,” Karoline Leavitt wrote on X .
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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More than a a dozen Republicans The AGs have kept the Biden administration under watch over the past four years and issued notices on several of his policies. In November, Republican Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, along with more than 20 other state attorneys general, sent a letter to Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, urging them to drop their cases against President-elect Trump in order to avoid the risk of a “constitutional crisis”.
Paxton also filed a lawsuit in November against the Biden-Harris Justice Department to prevent the potential destruction of any records from Smith’s “corrupt investigation of President Donald Trump,” according to his office.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but had not heard back by the time of publication.
