Federal Trade Commission Overreach Ripe for SCOTUS Scrutiny

Aug. 31, 2022, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to Supreme Court likely challenging the aggressive expansion and power grabs of the FTC.

“The Federal Trade Commission under Joe Biden’s radical appointees has made a point to overturning internal rules of action and aggressively expanding its power.  In the wake of the Supreme Court’s West Virginia v. EPA case which curtailed the agency’s ability dramatically expand environmental laws beyond any reasonable congressional grant of power, the FTC’s power grab may be next on the chopping block.  The FTC faces a likely challenge to a part of their claimed authority to internally litigate cases effectively dictating their outcome at the Supreme Court in the Axon v. FTC case.

The administrative state has become a hotbed of government expansion over the years, and the FTC’s radical expansion of the federal government’s reach should serve as a cautionary tale for members of the United States Senate who vote to confirm members of little known quasi-governmental entities which have extraordinary control over the free enterprise system.  The nation can no longer afford the GOP acceptance of whoever President Biden appoints to positions of power.  In fact, you cannot claim to be a limited government Senator and vote for appointees who seek to rip apart the fabric of our nation.  It is our sincere hope that the Biden FTC serves as a constant reminder that the left has abandoned the comity of bi-partisanship needed to ensure legitimacy of an unelected administrative body’s actions, and Republicans are elected by their constituents to protect them from wayward regulators.

And in the meantime, let’s hope that the FTC feels the pointy legal sword for their blatant attempts at partisan, corporate score settling when they are forced to defend their positions before the highest court in the land in what can only be hoped is the near future.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/jul/18/democrat-led-ftc-likely-headed-toward-supreme-cour/

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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SCOTUS fails again to limit size and scope of government

Courts cannot be depended upon to save the Constitution and country

Fairfax, Va. – The Supreme Court today rejected a challenge to the Affordable Care Act, the third time it has preserved the 2010 healthcare law.

Texas and other Republican-leaning states, backed by the Trump administration, sought to strike down the law on technical arguments after Congress reduced to zero the tax penalty for failing to carry health insurance. Thursday’s 7-2 decision, written by Justice Stephen Breyer, found that none of the plaintiffs suffered any injury from zeroing out the penalty and thus they lacked legal standing to bring the lawsuit at all.

Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning issued the following statement in reaction:

“Sen. Ted Cruz was right when in 2013, he led a charge to defund Obamacare which passed the House of Representatives but flamed out in the Senate amid promises of future repeal of the hated federalization of health care.  Today’s Supreme Court decision that the 18 states, all of which had mandates put on them by the law, did not have standing with the Court, shows how weak the Court is when faced with threats of political court packing.

“It also shows that promises to rip the law out “root and branch,” depended upon a Court filled with originalists.  As Americans for Limited Government has asserted time and again, the framers intended for Congress to be the most powerful branch of government.  It should be no surprise that conservative jurists defer to this reading of the Constitution, even if they abhor the law to be decided.

“The Court held that the states did not suffer any damage due to the zeroing out of the individual mandate by Congress and hence were not eligible to bring the case.  This is an obvious dodge, as the underlying case would have forced the Court to make the determination if the thin reed that the individual mandate was a tax used by Chief Justice John Roberts used as a cover to save the law had been destroyed by Congress’ later decision to zero out funding for the individual mandate.  Ironically, the case may have been different if Congress had actually repealed the mandate which forced people who did not want to or could not afford, the crummy and expensive Obamacare insurance to pay a tax as a penalty for making the choice to not enroll.  But Congress did not take this step.  It is unclear what the final decision would have been because by simply defunding the individual mandate, the law remained in place, but is unenforced.

“This disappointing decision makes clear that the battles over the Courts matter in terms of keeping people off the bench who would use it to usurp the will of the people. This sobering thought makes the current fight over maintaining the filibuster and defeating the Democrat election changes all the more important.  If candidates who support limited government fail to gain control of the Senate in 2022, it is clear the Courts cannot be depended upon to save the Constitution and country.”

For media availability contact Catherine Mortensen at 703-478-4643 or cmortensen@getliberty.org.