Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit against President Joe Biden and members of his administration over the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.
The $1.7 trillion act is the latest massive omnibus bill from the Democrats that was allegedly illegally signed into law by Biden in December.
Paxton asserts in his lawsuit, which he filed on Feb. 15, that the legislation is illegitimate and was not duly approved by the House of Representatives, according to the complaint.
The House voted on the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 in December 2022, but only 201 members were present at the time. Paxton’s suit claims that because over 50 percent of the members were missing, the necessary quorum was not satisfied.
According to the complaint, the Constitution requires a quorum of members of the House of Representatives to be present for the lower body of Congress to perform any action.
“Nowhere does the U.S. Constitution authorize the House to pass trillion-dollar bills when more than half the members are in their homes, vacationing, or are anywhere physically other than the United States Capitol Building,” Paxton said, according to a press release from his office.
“Our Founders would be turning over in their graves if they could see how former Speaker Nancy Pelosi used proxy voting to upend our constitutional system. That is especially true regarding the 1.7 trillion-dollar bill that should have never been ‘passed.’ Joe Biden … should have known he couldn’t legally sign it either.”
The House passed a new version of the measure with 225 yes votes, 201 no votes, and one present, though the votes of those physically present on the floor were only 88 yes and 113 no. Several Republicans, as well as the majority of Democrats, voted by proxy on the bill, as recorded by the House clerk.
Proxy voting was implemented in 2020 by then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19. Members of the House were allowed to continue to vote without being present through December 2022. The GOP ended the practice when they became the majority party in January 2023.
This Appropriations Act of 2023 allocates funds to federal agencies for the balance of the fiscal year 2023 and includes supplementary funds for disaster relief and Ukraine assistance, and extends a number of expiring authorities.
The $1.7 trillion spending bill alters or establishes a variety of programs addressing a wide range of policy issues and includes 12 appropriation bills to fund agencies during the current fiscal year, including the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act; Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act; and the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.