Joe Biden is ignoring the law to enact Democrats’ radical left-wing agenda.
The courts are the only thing standing in his way.
And Joe Biden was blindsided when a court handed him a crushing defeat he never saw coming.
President Joe Biden is using the federal bureaucracy to radically reinterpret the law to advance his extreme environmental agenda.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new rule that expanded the definition of the “Waters of the United States” rule, putting virtually every bit of standing water in the nation under the stringent regulations of the Clean Water Act.
Every roadside ditch or puddle could be placed under the control of the federal government in this massive power grab.
The move would cause major economic damage to farmers, ranchers, and small businesses hit with more burdensome red tape.
A small pond created by agricultural runoff could now be regulated by an overzealous federal bureaucrat.
Farmers and ranchers could face devastating lawsuits and potentially criminal charges for not complying with the new rule.
Congress stepped in and tried to stop the Waters of the U.S. rule with a bipartisan bill that would have overturned it.
But President Biden vetoed the bill – yet, he quickly realized that this fight wasn’t over.
U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland in Bismarck, North Dakota temporarily blocked the Waters of the U.S. rule after a lawsuit from 24 states, stopping the rule from being implemented in those two dozen states.
In March, a federal judge in Texas blocked the rule for the Lone Star State, as well as Idaho.
The EPA said the rule will remain in place in other states that hadn’t filed for a federal injunction.
The judge said in his decision that the Waters of the U.S. rule would affect landowners by making them “potentially subject to federal jurisdiction and permitting requirements,” which would cause them to “undertake expensive assessments or forgo their activities.”
Hovland pointed out the fact that there is a “dire need” for a definition of a body of water for regulatory purposes.
A pending case, Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency – which will go before the Supreme Court later this year – could settle the debate over the federal government’s ability to regulate puddles.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey slammed the harmful rule after his legal victory.
“This rule would harm jobs and economic growth by taking jurisdiction from states and asserting federal authority over nearly any body of water, including roadside ditches, short-lived streams and many other areas where water may flow only once every 100 years,” Morrisey said.
This could be the beginning of the end of the EPA’s unprecedented power grab over water.
Patriot Political will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
