Joe Biden has lost another court battle after a federal judge ruled that Biden’s provision in the COVID-19 relief bill limiting state tax cuts is unconstitutional.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a federal lawsuit against the Treasury Department and Secretary, Janet Yellen, arguing that a provision in the $1.9 trillion Democratic spending package stops states from using relief funds to offset tex cuts “directly or indirectly” is unconstitutional.
“The federal government has to stay in their lane, and if they don’t, we’re prepared to bump them up against the guardrail and keep them where they belong,” Yost said.
From the Washington Examiner:
U.S. District Judge Douglas Cole issued the permanent injunction against what Yost dubbed the “tax mandate” on Thursday, ruling that the provision exceeds the federal government’s power over state.
Cole ruled that the tax mandate “falls short of the clarity” that the Supreme Court requires for any Constitutional spending clause.
“Accordingly, the Court finds that the Tax Mandate exceeds Congress’s power under the Constitution,” Cole concluded. “The Court further finds that Ohio has met the conditions for injunctive relief to prevent the ongoing harm that this constitutional violation is causing.”
The federal government has signaled an appeal is forthcoming. “We are confident that the act is constitutional and Treasury is committed to implementing it in a manner consistent with Congress’s direction so we can continue to promote a robust and equitable recovery,” the spokesperson for the treasury department said.
“The progressives are going to be howling right now because they don’t like the idea that the federal government can’t tell Ohio what to do with its tax policy, but they’ll be quoting this decision soon enough to a Republican president who might want to tell a blue state how to run their state,” Yost said.
Joe Biden is loser.
