IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 425 

Expressing disapproval of the failure to satisfy the constitutional duty to 

‘‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed’’ and the usurpation 

of the legislative authority of Congress by the President of the United 

States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2013 

Mr. DESANTIS (for himself, Mr. SALMON, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. MULVANEY, Mr. GARRETT, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. 

KING of Iowa, Mr. STUTZMAN, Mr. BRIDENSTINE, Mr. YOHO, Mr. 

MCCLINTOCK, and Mr. WILSON of South Carolina) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing disapproval of the failure to satisfy the constitutional duty to ‘‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully 

executed’’ and the usurpation of the legislative authority 

of Congress by the President of the United States. 

Whereas Article I of the United States Constitution vests 

Congress with all legislative powers; 

Whereas Article II, Section 3 of the United States Constitution imposes a duty on the President to ‘‘take Care that 

the Laws be faithfully executed’’; 


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•HRES 425 IH 

Whereas the Constitution does not delegate authority to the 

President to rewrite, amend, or delay duly-enacted, constitutional laws; 

Whereas the ‘‘take care’’ duty has roots in Anglo-American 

law dating back to the Glorious Revolution of 17th century Britain, to wit, the English Bill of Rights of 1689 

provided that ‘‘the pretended power of suspending laws, 

or the execution of laws, by regal authority, without the 

consent of parliament, is illegal’’; 

Whereas President George Washington explained the Constitution’s Take Care Clause as follows: ‘‘It is my duty 

to see the Laws executed: to permit them to be trampled 

with impunity would be repugnant to’’ that duty; 

Whereas Thomas Jefferson observed that ‘‘if the equilibrium 

of the three great bodies, Legislative, Executive and Judiciary, could be preserved, if the Legislature could be 

kept independent,’’ he would ‘‘never fear the result of 

such a government’’, but that ‘‘he could not but be uneasy when I saw that the Executive had swallowed up the 

Legislative branch’’; 

Whereas Alexander Hamilton explained in The Federalist No. 

69 that, under the Constitution, the President ‘‘can prescribe no rules concerning the commerce or currency of 

the nation’’; 

Whereas James Madison wrote in The Federalist No. 47 that 

the ‘‘accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and 

judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or 

many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, 

may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny’’; 

Whereas the text of the Patient Protection and Affordable 

Care Act requires that the Shared Responsibility for EmVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:44 Nov 20, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR425.IH HR425

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•HRES 425 IH 

ployers Regarding Health Coverage provision, commonly 

known as the employer mandate, ‘‘shall apply to months 

beginning after December 31, 2013’’; 

Whereas, on July 2, 2013, the executive branch announced 

that the President unilaterally rewrote the employer mandate provision to apply to the months applying after December 31, 2014; 

Whereas, on July 17, 2013, the House of Representatives 

passed a bill to delay the employer mandate by statute; 

Whereas the President threatened to veto the lawful change 

proposed by the House even though it was precisely the 

statutory change he instituted by executive fiat; 

Whereas the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act renders insurance policies that fail to contain what the government defines as ‘‘essential minimum benefits’’ to be illegal; 

Whereas millions of Americans are losing their individual 

health insurance policies because such policies do not 

qualify for grandfather status under the statute; 

Whereas, on November 14, 2013, the President announced 

that he would ‘‘extend’’ the statute’s grandfather clause 

to include plans not protected under the statute; 

Whereas, on November 15, 2013, the House of Representatives passed a bill to overrule the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that are causing mass cancellations of insurance policies; and 

Whereas, on November 15, 2013, the President threatened to 

veto the lawful statutory change proposed by the House 

of Representatives: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 


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•HRES 425 IH 

1 (1) disapproves of the President’s failure to 

2 ‘‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed’’ as 

3 required by the Constitution; 

4 (2) disapproves of the President’s usurpation of 

5 the legislative power of Congress through the rewrit6 ing of key provisions of the Patient Protection and 

7 Affordable Care Act; and 

8 (3) reaffirms that the preservation of the Con9 stitution’s separation of powers is essential for the 

10 protection of individual liberty and the maintenance 

11 of the rule of law. 

Æ 


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