II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2118 

To protect the separation of powers in the Constitution of the United States 

by ensuring that the President takes care that the laws be faithfully 

executed, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2014 

Mr. BLUNT (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. MORAN, Mr. PAUL, 

Mr. THUNE, Mr. VITTER, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. KIRK, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. 

BARRASSO, Mr. JOHANNS, Mr. COBURN, Mr. WICKER, Mr. COATS, Mr. 

COCHRAN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. ALEXANDER, Ms. AYOTTE, Mr. GRAHAM, 

Mr. HATCH, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. ENZI, Mrs. FISCHER, and Mr. ISAKSON) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect the separation of powers in the Constitution of 

the United States by ensuring that the President takes 

care that the laws be faithfully executed, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Executive Needs to 

5 Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional EnactVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:22 Mar 18, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2118.IS S2118

tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2118 IS

1 ments of the Law Act of 2014’’ or the ‘‘ENFORCE the 

2 Law Act of 2014’’. 

3 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION TO BRING CIVIL ACTION FOR VIO4 LATION OF THE TAKE CARE CLAUSE. 

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the adoption of a reso7 lution of a House of Congress declaring that the 

8 President, the head of any department or agency of 

9 the United States, or any other officer or employee 

10 of the United States has established or implemented 

11 a formal or informal policy, practice, or procedure to 

12 refrain from enforcing, applying, following, or ad13 ministering any provision of a Federal statute, rule, 

14 regulation, program, policy, or other law in violation 

15 of the requirement that the President take care that 

16 the laws be faithfully executed under article II, sec17 tion 3, clause 5, of the Constitution of the United 

18 States, that House may bring a civil action in ac19 cordance with subsection (b) (including an action 

20 seeking relief under sections 2201 and 2202 of title 

21 28, United States Code). A civil action brought 

22 under this paragraph may be brought by a single 

23 House of Congress or both Houses of Congress 

24 jointly, if both Houses have adopted such a resolu25 tion. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2118 IS

1 (2) RESOLUTION DESCRIBED.—For the pur2 poses of paragraph (1), the term ‘‘resolution’’ means 

3 only a resolution— 

4 (A) the title of which is as follows: ‘‘Relat5 ing to the application of article II, section 3, 

6 clause 5, of the Constitution of the United 

7 States.’’; 

8 (B) which does not have a preamble; and 

9 (C) the matter after the resolving clause of 

10 which is as follows: ‘‘That lllllll has 

11 failed to meet the requirement of article II, sec12 tion 3, clause 5, of the Constitution of the 

13 United States to take care that a law be faith14 fully executed, with respect to 

15 lllllllll.’’ (the blank spaces being 

16 appropriately filled in with the President or the 

17 identity of the person acting on behalf of the 

18 President, and the administrative action in 

19 question described in paragraph (1), respec20 tively). 

21 (b) SPECIAL RULES.—In any civil action brought by 

22 the Senate or the House of Representatives under sub23 section (a)(1)— 

24 (1) the civil action— 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2118 IS

1 (A) may be filed in a United States district 

2 court of competent jurisdiction; and 

3 (B) shall be heard by a 3-judge court con4 vened in accordance with section 2284 of title 

5 28, United States Code; 

6 (2) a final decision in the civil action shall be 

7 reviewable only by appeal directly to the Supreme 

8 Court of the United States; 

9 (3) an appeal described in paragraph (2) shall 

10 be taken by the filing of a notice of appeal within 

11 10 days, and the filing of a jurisdictional statement 

12 within 30 days, of the entry of the final decision; 

13 and 

14 (4) it shall be the duty of the United States dis15 trict courts and the Supreme Court of the United 

16 States to advance on the docket and to expedite to 

17 the greatest extent possible the disposition of the 

18 civil action and appeal. 

Æ 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS