Goodlatte Statement on United States v. Texas

Press Release

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) issued the following statement on the Supreme Court's decision in the case of United States v. Texas:

"Today's Supreme Court decision effectively ends President Obama's unilateral rewrite of our nation's immigration laws for the remainder of the Obama Administration. This is a win for the American people, the Constitution, and the rule of law. Today's decision also underscores the importance of who will replace Justice Scalia at the Supreme Court. Our next president must appoint a Supreme Court justice that will stop presidential power grabs and preserve the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution."

Background:

In a 4-4 decision, the Supreme Court effectively blocked President Obama's executive overreach on immigration from being implemented for the remainder of the Obama Administration, allowing a lower court ruling to stand.

Before taking executive action on immigration, President Obama stated 22 times that he does not have the authority to change immigration laws on his own. On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced unilateral changes to the nation's immigration laws, allowing potentially millions of unlawful immigrants to stay in the United States without a vote of Congress.

In December 2014, numerous states -- led by the State of Texas -- filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging President Obama's executive overreach on immigration, and Chairman Goodlatte took the lead in getting more members of the House to sign an amicus brief submitted to the federal court in support of the states' lawsuit.

On February 17, 2015, a federal judge temporarily blocked President Obama's unilateral immigration actions. Following this decision, Chairman Goodlatte and other Members of Congress filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of a continued injunction against President Obama's executive overreach on immigration in the case of United States v. Texas.

On November 10, 2015, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction preventing President Obama's executive overreach on immigration from being implemented. Following this decision, the Supreme Court announced that it would take up the case.

On March 17, 2016, the House, with Chairman Goodlatte's support, approved H. Res. 639, a resolution allowing the Speaker to file a brief on behalf of the whole House of Representatives defending Congress' Article I powers to write our nation's laws. Watch Goodlatte's floor speech on H. Res. 639 here.The House filed its brief on April 4, 2016.

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