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Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) today joined his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives in passing H.R. 4138, the ENFORCE the Law Act, and H.R. 3973, the Faithful Execution of the Law Act – two important pieces of legislation to rein in the unprecedented Executive overreach that has occurred during this presidency.

“The Constitution is the cornerstone of our democracy and explicitly states that it is Congress’ duty to write our laws and the President’s duty to enforce them once they are enacted,” said Latta. “President Obama continues to push his presidential powers beyond those outlined in the Constitution at an alarming rate, and in passing the ENFORCE the Law Act and the Faithful Execution of the Law Act, we hope to rein in this Imperial Presidency. While then-Senator Barack Obama emphasized the importance of the separation of powers and stated that he intended to reverse the trend of using Executive Orders as President, the reality is quite different. The President must stop using his pen and phone whenever he disagrees with the law and start using the Constitution as his guide.”

The ENFORCE the Law Act, would restore the balance and separation of powers outlined in our Constitution. It puts a procedure in place to permit the House or the Senate to authorize a lawsuit against the Executive Branch for failure to faithfully execute the laws. It also provides for an expedited consideration of any such lawsuit, first through a three-judge panel at the federal district court level and then by providing for direct appeal to the United States Supreme Court.

The Faithful Execution of the Law Act would strengthen current law by promoting transparency and honesty in the federal government, requiring all federal officials who establish or implement a formal or informal policy to refrain from enforcing a federal law to report to Congress on the reason for the non-enforcement. 

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