Attorney General Ken Paxton urged President Trump to lead a regulatory reform effort to protect individual rights from federal overreach. A coalition of 16 state attorneys general signed a letter authored by Attorney General Paxton and sent to the president on May 22.
“We need a regulatory reset to bring the current process under the rule of law. Giving unelected bureaucrats nearly absolute power threatens the civil liberties of Americans,” Attorney General Paxton said. “We encourage the president to push Congress for legislation limiting the enforcement authority of federal agencies to laws passed by the people’s elected representatives, not a federal agency’s rule, interpretation, guidance letter, or other document.”
The letter proposes practical steps to return power to the people’s elected representatives. The attorneys general write that Congress could call on the federal agencies to send their rules and rule-like documents for congressional review. Under the proposal, all current regulations would remain in place pending congressional review.
In the letter, the attorneys general identified regulatory overreach as the root cause of virtually all of their past and on-going litigation against the federal government. Texas, alone, has filed 27 lawsuits against out-of-control federal agencies since Attorney General Paxton took office.
“Because federal agencies have grown too powerful, the party that controls the executive branch effectively runs the nation – from what’s taught in our schools to the way businesses are managed,” Attorney General Paxton said. “The current regulatory approach presents an enormous problem for private individuals and businesses. Effective reform would restore the balance of power and encourage common-sense policies based on compromise and moderation, to the benefit of all Americans.”
Along with Attorney General Paxton, the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin joined the letter.
View a copy of the letter here.