The Tennessee House wants United States President Joe Biden and all future White House inhabitants to know it will have an eye on any executive order they sign.
The House passed a bill 70-23 Monday that would allow the General Assembly’s Joint Government Operations Committee to review any presidential executive order if it has not been approved by a vote of Congress and signed into law under traditional constitutional provisions.
If, upon review, committee members have concerns about the order, they may then recommend to the state attorney general and the governor that it be examined by the attorney general to determine whether the state should seek an exemption from the order’s application or seek to have it declared unconstitutional.
“If deemed unconstitutional, we can claim exemption from the executive order,” state Rep. Mark Hall, R-Cleveland, the bill’s sponsor, said in a House Public Service Subcommittee last month.
Don’t look for immediate action to rescind Biden executive orders to stop building the border wall, expand immigration, cancel the Keystone XL pipeline or any of the record number of executive orders the president has signed, though. The bill must still pass the state Senate and be signed by the governor to become law.