President Biden will be in office for less than two weeks, but that’s not slowing Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, both Republicans, from taking the Biden administration to court over new energy-efficient housing standards that they say undermine affordable prices. housing and go beyond what federal law allows.
This isn’t the only late lawsuit or complaint filed against the Biden White House in its final days, and it marks Paxton’s 103rd trial challenging the Democratic government.
“So I don’t know if anyone is close to that, but he has kept us busy because we had to prevent him from becoming more of a king or a dictator than an elected executive responsible for implementing, not creating, laws. ,” Paxton told Fox News Digital in an interview.
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President Biden has repeatedly targeted the fossil fuel industry as part of his sweeping climate agenda. (Getty Images)
Paxton said there “may be another” lawsuit coming, but they may not have it ready in time.
In addition to Utah and Texas, the states are participating in the lawsuit with the National Association of Home builders are Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. The coalition claims that the administration’s energy standards are not only burdensome, but also exceed the powers granted by Congress.
“Even as our country prepares to transition to a new administration, the outgoing HUD and USDA offices are determined to impose unwanted and unnecessary cost increases on Americans who are already struggling to pay their bills, provide for their families and secure a better future for their children,” Reyes said in a statement.
The Biden administration has claimed that these rules will save money by making homes more energy efficient. However, critics argue the rules increase upfront costs and reduce options for buyers.
The lawsuit also questions whether the government had the legal authority to enforce these rules. The attorneys general say the government is relying on private organizations, such as the International Code Council, to set standards that go beyond what the original law intended.
The Biden administration’s actions will eliminate about 6 million acres of potentially oil-rich leases from an upcoming federal lease sale. (Getty Images)
Biden’s renewable energy agenda has been a controversial focus of energy critics over the past four years. On Monday, Biden also signed an executive action banning new drilling and the like oil and natural gas development on more than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal and offshore waters.
Trump’s press secretary quickly slapped the order on X.
“This is a shameful decision designed to exact political revenge on the American people for giving President Trump a mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices. Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail, and we will drill, baby, drill,” wrote Karoline Leavitt. on X.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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More than one dozen Republicans AGs have kept the Biden administration on its toes over the past four years, making announcements on several of his policies. In November, Republican Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, along with more than two dozen other attorneys general, sent a letter to Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, calling on them to restrain their cases President-elect Trump to avoid the risk of a ‘constitutional crisis’.
Paxton also filed a lawsuit against the Biden-Harris Justice Department in November to prevent the possible destruction of data from Smith’s “corrupt investigation of President Donald Trump,” his office said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but had not heard back at time of publication.
