The Republican attorney general of Texas has vowed to fight President Joe Biden's illegal and unconstitutional proclamations. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced his commitment to fighting Biden's illegal orders in a tweet hours after the president's inauguration. Paxton promised to "challenge federal overreach" and "serve as a major check against lawlessness" shortly after extending his felicitations.
Paxton's Jan. 20 tweet read: "[Congratulations,] President Biden. On Inauguration Day, I wish our country the best. I promise my fellow Texans and Americans that I will fight against the many unconstitutional and illegal actions that the new administration will take, challenge federal overreach that infringes on Texans' rights and serve as a major check against the administration's lawlessness. Texas First! Law and Order always!"
Paxton's proclamation came amid numerous executive orders Biden signed during his first day in office. CBS News reported that some of the signed executive orders had to do with the Wuhan coronavirus, immigration and human rights. Most of these overturned earlier edicts by his predecessor.
Biden also signed an executive order ending the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which will also revoke related permits. He commented on his rather busy first day in office: "I thought there's no time to wait. [I have to] get to work immediately."
Texas lawmakers are not convinced. Sen. John Cornyn slammed Biden's plans to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. He said that doing so would only "kick the industry further down the well." A spokesman for Rep. Dan Crenshaw said Biden's actions on his first day in office and his executive orders "certainly do not signal a sense of humility and unity."
The Lone Star State's attorney general has been ardently fighting against vote fraud
A large percentage of GOP voters believe that Biden illegitimately won the election, with nearly half saying that Trump was the rightful winner. Biden dismissed the election fraud claims in his Jan. 20 inaugural speech. He urged the country to "reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured." The newly-inaugurated president also vowed to "defend the truth and defeat the lies."
However, it appears that Paxton is the one defending the truth to defeat the lies based on his recent actions following the November 2020 general elections.
Representing the Lone Star State, Paxton filed a lawsuit in December 2020 exhorting the U.S. Supreme court to throw out the election results in four battleground states. The suit alleged that the states unconstitutionally changed election laws, treated voters unequally and triggered significant voting irregularities by relaxing ballot integrity measures. (Related: A summary of the Texas election lawsuit.)
The high court rejected the complaint for "lack of standing under Article III of the Constitution." The one-page motion said that Texas "has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections." (Related: No plans to yield: Texas stands by claim that Biden win "statistically impossible".)
In a subsequent filing, Paxton argued that the four defendant states in an earlier lawsuit did not address "grave issues." These states – Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin – instead chose to "hide behind other court venues and decisions."
The new reply stated that the defendants "do not seriously address grave issues that Texas raises." Instead, the four defendants hid behind other court venues and decisions "in which Texas could not participate." Moreover, the reply said the states did not address the Lone Star State's points "to mischaracterize" the relief it seeks and its reasons for doing so.
"Texas asks [the Supreme Court] to recognize the obvious fact that [the] defendant states' maladministration of the 2020 election makes it impossible to know which candidate garnered the majority of lawful votes," Paxton's reply stated.
GreaterTexan.com has more news about Ken Paxton's fight against unconstitutional orders by President Joe Biden.
Sources include:
SupremeCourt.gov [PDF]
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