February 27, 2024 | Press Release
Attorney General Ken Paxton Wins Case Challenging $1.7 Trillion Federal Funding Bill Passed Unconstitutionally With Less Than Half of U.S. Congress Physically Present
The Quorum Clause of the U.S. Constitution mandates that the chambers of Congress must have a majority of members physically present to constitute a quorum before most official business may be conducted. However, in December 2022, fewer than half of the House of Representatives were physically present when they passed the $1.7 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, with those not present voting by proxy. When President Joe Biden signed the illegally passed law, Attorney General Paxton sued and sought an injunction against the implementation of certain provisions of the law affecting the State of Texas.
“Congress acted egregiously by passing the largest spending bill in U.S. history with fewer than half the members of the House bothering to do their jobs, show up, and vote in person,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi abused proxy voting under the pretext of COVID-19 to pass this law, then Biden signed it, knowing they violated the Constitution. This was a stunning violation of the rule of law. I am relieved the Court upheld the Constitution.”
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-wins-case-challenging-17-trillion-federal-funding-bill-passed
The following is the first page of the MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER so ordered by the Court on Feb 27, 2024.
For over 235 years, Congress understood the Constitution’s Quorum Clause to require a majority of members of the House or Senate to be physically present to constitute the necessary quorum to pass legislation. This rule prevents a minority of members from passing legislation that affects the entire nation. But despite the Constitution’s text and centuries of consistent practice, the House in 2020 created a rule that permitted non-present members to be included in the quorum count and vote by proxy. Pursuant to that novel rule, the House passed a new law included within the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, and that particular provision affects Texas. Like many constitutional challenges, Texas asserts that this provision is unenforceable against it because Congress violated the
Constitution in passing the law. In response, the defendants claim, among other things, that this Court has no power to address the issue because it cannot look to extrinsic evidence to question whether a bill became law. But because the Court is interpreting and enforcing the
Constitution—rather than second-guessing a vote count—the Court disagrees. The Court concludes that, by including members who were indisputably absent in the quorum count, the Act at issue passed in violation of the Constitution’s Quorum Clause.
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/press/Quorum%20Clause%20opinion.pdf