2.5: Recent Federalism Cases involving Texas

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In the past several decades Texas has been a leader in pushing back against encroachments of the national government. The degree of activity varies depending upon whether the occupant of the White House is a Republican, who is likely to share the state’s restrained views on the role of government in the economy, or a Democrat, who is more likely to see an expanded role.

During the Obama Administration, Texas was active in using the federal courts to challenge the constitutionality of laws and executive orders issued. The Texas attorney general Ken Paxton is responsible for making the decision to pursue and organize legal challenges. Greg Abbott held the position until becoming governor after the 2014 election when he was replaced by Ken Paxton. Together they sued the Obama Administration forty-eight times in federal court, and they are allowed to do in the U.S. Constitution.

These include challenges to the Affordable Care Act (referred to as Obamacare) and the Clean Power Plan, and opposition to a policy extending spousal benefits to same sex couples. Texas also sued the Obama Administration to support its voter ID laws and redistricting plans. After a period of calm during the Trump presidency, conflict is set to ratchet up with Joseph Biden in the White House. So far attention has been focused on new COVID-19 mandates issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the reversal of restrictive border policies, and the American Family Plan, part of his two trillion dollar infrastructure plan.