Unanimous Federal Court Ruling Affirms Basic Constitutional Principle

BATON ROUGE, LA – Attorney General Jeff Landry applauded the United States Court of Appeals for affirming that federal agencies do not have authority to change statute.

“In a concise and incisive opinion – D.C. Circuit Judges Brown, Millett, and Ginsburg affirmed the basic principle in constitutional law that dictates agencies may act only when and how Congress lets them,” said General Landry. “Their ruling was absolutely correct: disagreeing with Congress’s expressly codified policy choices isn’t a luxury administrative agencies enjoy.”

The Central United Life Insurance Co. v. Burwell ruling overturns an HHS-amended regulation that restricts the sale of fixed indemnity insurance plans. Louisiana and 11 other states advised the court that it was cost effective to forego minimum essential coverage in favor of these fixed indemnity policies.

“From healthcare to the environment and education to immigration, the President has exceeded executive branch authority by using the administrative process to circumvent clear limitations established by Congress,” added General Landry. “I applaud this Court for succinctly holding the Administration accountable to the Constitution and the rule of law.”

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