A federal judge in Texas has stopped the Biden administration from implementing a rule that would require states and cities to set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions “associated with transportation.”
Republicans complained that the rule, issued by the Federal Highway Administration, was an attempt to impose the Biden climate agenda on conservative states and that the federal government did not have the authority to do it, The Daily Wire reported.
The state of Texas sued in December to stop the rule, and on Wednesday, a federal judge sided with the state.
“A federal administrative agency cannot act without congressional authorization. Here, the Federal Highway Administration created a rule requiring the states to measure, report, and set declining targets for the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by vehicles using the interstate and national highway systems,” U.S. District Judge James Hendrix said in his decision.
“Texas sued, alleging that the agency lacked authority to enact the rule. Given the statutory text’s plain language and context, the Court agrees,” the judge, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, said.
He said that the Department of Transportation had attempted to override the law’s “clear limitation of authorized performance measures to those that track the physical condition and efficiency of the interstate and national highway systems.”
He said that it is the job of Congress to amend 23 U.S. Code Section 150, which is the federal law that governs national highways and interstates, or to create a new law.
“If the people, through Congress, believe that the states should spend the time and money necessary to measure and report GHG emissions and set declining emission targets, they may do so by amending Section 150 or passing a new law,” he said. “But an agency cannot make this decision for the people.”
Rep. Sam Graves, the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Rep. Rick Crawford, the chairman of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, celebrated the decision.
“This was a clear case of blatant overreach by the Biden Administration from the beginning, and we commend the Court for its ruling that a ‘federal administrative agency cannot act without congressional authorization,’” the Congressmen said.
“Congress rejected the inclusion of a GHG performance measure requirement when the infrastructure law was developed, making the Administration’s rulemaking an unlawful attempt to circumvent Congress and force this one-size-fits-all burden upon every state and community across the country,” they said.
And he was not the only federal judge in the news this week.
U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Reggie Walton was critical of Trump after he complained about New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan and his daughter, the latter of whom posted a headshot of Trump behind bars on one of her social media accounts.
Trump said Merchan “is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome” on his Truth Social account this week, The Epoch Times reported.
Walton characterized Trump’s remarks as troublesome.
“And it’s particularly problematic when those comments are in the form of a threat, especially if they’re directed at one’s family,” he said on CNN. I mean, we do these jobs because we’re committed to the rule of law and believe in the rule of law, and the rule of law can only function effectively when we have judges who are prepared to carry out their duties without the threat of potential physical harm.”
Walton later added that “it’s very important that people in positions of authority be very circumspect in reference to the things that they say so that they’re not causing others to act on what they say and maybe cause injury or deaths somewhat as a result of that.”