JEFFERSON CITY — Add Attorney General Eric Schmitt to the list of Missouri Republicans challenging President Joe Biden’s power.
While GOP state lawmakers are pursuing various pieces of legislation aimed at the Democratic president’s use of executive orders, Schmitt announced the filing of a lawsuit Monday by a coalition of 12 states over Biden’s recently issued order on climate change.
The suit claims Biden did not have the authority to issue the regulations and that they could “stifle manufacturing” and “harm agriculture.”
“From higher energy bills to lost jobs, this massive expansion of federal regulatory power has the potential to impact nearly every household in this state — that’s why today I’m leading a coalition of states to put a stop to this executive order and protect Missouri families,” Schmitt said in a statement.
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Other states joining the lawsuit include Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah.
The legal action comes as state lawmakers in Jefferson City are pushing a number of bills that also challenge the new administration.
Senate President Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, introduced legislation last week that would give the General Assembly the power to review any executive order issued by the president or his administration to determine the constitutionality of such action.
If approved, the Legislature also could recommend that the attorney general review the federal action and whether the state should seek a waiver from the new rule.
“The president’s abuse of the executive order is a threat to our constitutional rights,” said Schatz. “The United States has a president, not a king. Missourians want to make it very clear to those in Washington who are seeking to dictate by ‘the stroke of a pen’ you aren’t going to silence our voices, you aren’t going to take our lawful weapons, you aren’t going to throw open our borders to criminals and you aren’t going to bankrupt our economy and destroy our energy infrastructure.”
The Missouri House last month gave first-round approval to a proposal that would prevent local law enforcement from enforcing federal gun laws that aren’t on the books in Missouri.
The Second Amendment Preservation Act, sponsored by Rep. , R-Nixa, seeks to invalidate federal laws or other actions deemed to infringe on a person’s Second Amendment right to bear arms.
And Sen. Eric Burlison, R-Battlefield, is pushing for a constitutional convention of the states that could place limits on the federal government’s authority.
Although other states also are considering the idea, there has never been a constitutional convention.
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