UNCONSTITUTIONAL: 11th Circuit Agrees With ACLJ, Rules Against Biden and the Left's "Tax Mandate" That Blocked States From LOWERING Taxes

In a huge win for all American taxpayers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit recently ruled that the federal government has no authority to tell individual states how they can tax – or NOT tax – their residents.

The appeals court blasted the Biden Administration for ignoring the “Constitution’s meticulous separation of powers”:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit issued an opinion Friday that the U.S. Treasury Department could not prohibit states from cutting their taxes if they received direct federal aid from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

“The Constitution does not give the federal government authority to require states to enact the laws or policies that Congress prefers,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Andrew L. Brasher.

“Congress often uses its power to tax and spend as a work-around, offering federal funds in exchange for states establishing preferred programs or enacting favored laws,” Brasher continued. “Allowing an executive agency to impose a condition that is not otherwise ascertainable in the law Congress enacted ‘would be inconsistent with the Constitution’s meticulous separation of powers.’”

This is precisely what we argued to the 11th Circuit in our amicus brief when we noted that the separation of powers is essential to our federalist system and mandated by the Constitution.

Back in 2021 former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Joe Biden, and Senator Chuck Schumer, in a gross overreach for more power and control, slipped an 11th-hour provision into the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that blocked states that took COVID relief money from lowering taxes. They essentially tried to weaponize a pandemic to keep their revenue flowing.

As we previously explained, the empowered Left wanted to hold COVID relief funds over the heads of the states, trying to strong-arm them into obedience:

In essence this provision, which has now been codified and signed into law by President Biden, is designed to hammer Red states into submission to the federal government itself and shows that the Left has fallen all over itself to bow down to the federal government as the only god they are prepared to recognize and worship.

This outrageous provision is arguably unconstitutional since the Supreme Court has only recognized constrained limits on the taxing power of states. And while the high Court has recognized that Congress may impose certain conditions on funds it gives to the states, it may not impose conditions so intrusive that it amounts to coercing the states to do its will.

Many considered this move by the Left tantamount to political extortion. It is not the federal government’s place to dictate to individual states how they choose to govern. Even the Wall Street Journal admitted the bill “explicitly bars states from cutting taxes.”

That year, we filed a critical amicus brief on behalf of 78 Members of Congress, led by Senators Mike Crapo and Tim Scott, and Representatives Jim Banks and Kevin Brady, in a lawsuit brought by 13 states in federal district court to stop the Left’s blatantly unconstitutional tax mandate. The federal district court ruled in our favor.

The Biden Administration later appealed the ruling, and in 2022 we filed another amicus brief on behalf of 64 Members of Congress with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Thankfully, the 11th Circuit agreed with our arguments and told extreme Leftists in the federal government to stay in their lane, stating that the government cannot control how states tax their citizens.

The ruling also agreed with us that the Left’s “tax mandate” would be economically harmful to individual states as well as interfere with their right to self-govern, thereby giving them little to no recourse:

The Rescue Plan’s offset provision has affected the States’ sovereign authority to tax by binding them to a deal with ambiguous terms and placing them on the hook for billions of dollars in potential recoupment actions. Second, money damages cannot adequately compensate the States because the federal government generally enjoys immunity from suit.

Using a global pandemic to siphon more power away from the individual states is unacceptable, and it goes against the founding principles of this nation. After a two-year battle, we are grateful that the 11th Circuit agreed with our position. This is a win for all taxpayers, and it’s a strong message to those on the Left whose reach for power might exceed their grasp of the Constitution.

If the Biden Administration dares to appeal this case to the Supreme Court, we will defend the Constitution against this power grab.