A ruling by a Texas federal judge has now declared unconstitutional the 2022 passage of a $1.7 trillion government financing bill on the grounds that a rule from the pandemic era permitted the House of Representatives to vote by proxy rather than in person.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, known for his numerous lawsuits against the Biden administration, requested the courts to halt a provision in the bill that provided increased legal protections for pregnant workers.
A ruling was made by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix in Lubbock regarding one of the provisions Paxton wanted to block, while the rest of the spending bill remains unaffected.
By blocking the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, Hendrix discovered that the bill had been passed incorrectly.
The act mandates employers to offer reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers, including time off following childbirth.
Last February, Texas contested the spending bill, seeking court intervention to halt the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and funding for the Department of Homeland Security’s Alternatives to Detention Case Management Pilot Program.
According to Hendrix’s ruling, Texas lacked the authority to contest the provision offering case management and extra assistance to noncitizens in immigration cases.
The spending bill was approved in December 2022 through a proxy vote rule influenced by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
Following the Republicans’ victory in the November 2022 elections, the party decided to discontinue the practice of proxy voting in the 117th Congress, even though GOP lawmakers had previously utilized the rule.
“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.” Paxton said in a statement.
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