Separation of Powers Act Restores Constitutional Balance of Power

Press Release

To restore legislative power to Granite Staters' elected representatives, Congressman Frank Guinta voted today for the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, a bill that would overturn courts' deference to administrative rules and regulations, as opposed to federal law on which they are based.

"Federal agencies are writing law and ruling on it, a clear violation of the Constitution's separation of powers, in which courts also have a vested interest," said Rep. Guinta (NH-01). "Courts, as well as Congress, have ceded their authority to federal agencies, a fourth branch of government denying Americans a host of rights: due process, protection from unreasonable search and seizure, a fair trial."

"This list goes on," he said. "A unitary executive that is judge and jury is precisely what the Founders feared. I'm proud to vote for today's bill, overturning two overly broad Supreme Court decisions that undermine representative democracy."

Specifically, SOPRA overturns the Chevron and Auer doctrines. In essence, the first allows agencies wide leeway to write rules and regulations unrelated to current statute, as long as Congress has not explicitly prohibited them. The second allows agencies to interpret their own rules and regulations to courts, creating a conflict of interest, explained Rep. Guinta.

"Agencies have an incentive to write vague regulations, which they manipulate according to the whims of Washington bureaucrats, the biggest special interest of all," said the Congressman, a co-sponsor of the Separation of Powers Restoration Act.

In the 114th Congress, Rep. Guinta has argued against unlawful expansions of executive power at the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Homeland Security, joining two amicus briefs to the Supreme Court.

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