Title: Expressing disapproval of the failure to uphold 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.
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
This resolution calls on the President to remove and replace Alejandro Mayorkas as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 493 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 493

Expressing disapproval of the failure to uphold 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

                             June 23, 2021

Mrs. Boebert (for herself, Mr. Posey, Mr. Bishop of North Carolina, Mr. 
  Duncan, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Hice of Georgia, Mr. Good of 
Virginia, Mr. Griffith, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Cawthorn, Mr. Biggs, 
 Mr. Gaetz, Mr. Fallon, Mr. Massie, Mr. Nehls, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Mooney, 
Mr. Norman, Mrs. Harshbarger, Mr. Gooden of Texas, Mr. Weber of Texas, 
     Mrs. Greene of Georgia, and Mr. Roy) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 
 in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing disapproval of the failure to uphold 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 I, section 8, clause 4 of the Constitution grants Congress clear 
        jurisdiction with regard to citizenship and immigration matters;
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'';
Whereas the Constitution does not delegate authority to the President to rewrite 
        or amend constitutionally enacted laws;
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 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 sections 235(b)(1)(B)(iii), 235(b)(1)(B)(iii)(IV), 
        235(b)(2)(A), and 239(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
        requires detaining inadmissible aliens and issuing Notices to Appear;
Whereas it is the duty of the President of the United States to ensure the 
        faithful execution of the immigration laws of the United States and 
        enforce all provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act mandating 
        removal of inadmissible or removable aliens;
Whereas the Department of Homeland Security (hereafter DHS) has entered into 
        more than 100 agreements under section 287(g) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)) with State and local law enforcement 
        agencies;
Whereas DHS entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on January 8, 2021, with 
        the State of Texas; in which DHS agreed to ``consult with Texas before 
        taking any action or making any decision that would reduce immigration 
        enforcement,'' including pausing or decreasing deportations;
Whereas the agreement required DHS to provide 180 days' notice of any proposed 
        action to reduce immigration enforcement;
Whereas, on January 20, 2021, the President's administration unilaterally 
        ordered a ``100-day pause'' on the removal of any alien with a final 
        order of removal pending DHS review;
Whereas the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas initially 
        issued a Temporary Restraining Order against the President's ``100-day 
        pause'';
Whereas the Court stated the statute ``does not imply total discretion to pause 
        or suspend a statutory mandate'';
Whereas the same Court followed with a preliminary injunction pending a final 
        ruling;
Whereas the ``100-day pause'' would suspend action against more than 1 million 
        aliens subject to final orders of removal;
Whereas in 2015 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held the Obama 
        Administration's planned expansion of its Deferred Action for Childhood 
        Arrivals (DACA) program to cover a broad category of persons was 
        unlawful;
Whereas in 2018 the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas 
        during a hearing challenging the legality of DACA stated that DACA was 
        likely unlawful and that DHS may defer removal in specific cases and 
        that exercising discretion to a large class of aliens contravenes the 
        INA's statutory scheme;
Whereas, on January 20, 2021, the President issued a Memorandum for the Attorney 
        General and Secretary of Homeland Security ``to preserve and fortify 
        DACA'';
Whereas in January 2020, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) 
        issued a legal opinion finding ``faithful execution of the law does not 
        permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those 
        that Congress has enacted into law'';
Whereas GAO found further that the previous administration's temporary 
        withholding of foreign aid funds was not permitted under the Impoundment 
        Control Act;
Whereas President Biden may have violated the Impoundment Control Act, in 
        directing that no funds Congress had appropriated to build the border 
        wall would be spent on building the wall;
Whereas, on February 5, 2021, the President suspended agreements with certain 
        Central American countries resulting in a massive surge of people at the 
        southern border claiming asylum;
Whereas, on February 18, 2021, the President began allowing criminal aliens with 
        felony records to remain in the United States;
Whereas the President threatens to ensure an immigration crisis continues at the 
        southern border by offering amnesty to millions of illegal aliens;
Whereas more than 180,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended by Border Patrol 
        in May 2021;
Whereas one year ago under President Trump, there were 1,400 unaccompanied 
        minors in Department of Health and Human Services custody, and now under 
        President Biden there are 22,000;
Whereas Alejandro Mayorkas took an oath to defend and secure our country and 
        uphold the U.S. Constitution when he was sworn in as Secretary of the 
        Department of Homeland Security on February 2;
Whereas in more than four months, Secretary Mayorkas has failed to faithfully 
        uphold his oath and has instead presided over a reckless abandonment of 
        border security and immigration law enforcement, at the expense of the 
        U.S. Constitution and security of the United States; and
Whereas the President has endangered the America people: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) calls on the President to remove Alejandro Mayorkas as 
        Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and replace 
        him with leadership that will prioritize the security of the 
        United States and faithfully enforce the laws enacted by 
        Congress;
            (2) disapproves of the President's usurpation of the 
        legislative power of Congress in his withholding of duly 
        appropriated funding for the southern border wall;
            (3) calls on the President to employ all lawful means to 
        enforce the immigration laws of the United States;
            (4) calls on the President to ensure the faithful execution 
        of the immigration laws of the United States;
            (5) reaffirms that the preservation of the Constitution's 
        separation of powers is essential for the protection of 
        individual liberty and the maintenance of the rule of law; and
            (6) censures the President for his failure to ``take Care 
        that the Laws be faithfully executed'' as required by the 
        Constitution.
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