Did Your Republican Senator(s) Join the Amicus Brief Opposing Obama’s Executive Amnesty?

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell led nearly four dozen Senate Republicans in filing an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in support of the 26 states challenging President Obama’s unconstitutional executive amnesty programs.

The Supreme Court took up the states’ case, U.S. v. Texas, after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals last November affirmed a preliminary injunction blocking the Obama administration from moving forward with implementing the DAPA and expanded DACA amnesty programs. The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on April 18 and expected to issue a ruling in June.

In the amicus brief, the senators rightfully note that President Obama’s use of executive action to grant de facto amnesty to millions of illegal aliens “stands in stark contravention to federal law and the constitutional principle of the separation of powers.” They add that the president’s executive overreach was an “explicit effort to circumvent the legislative process.”

While Majority Leader McConnell’s effort to file an amicus brief in support of the plaintiff-states should have had unanimous support from the Senate Republican Conference, it did not. Out of the 54-member conference, 43 senators signed the amicus brief, while 11 decided not to take a stand against amnesty and the administration’s usurpation of power only entrusted to the legislative body in which they serve.

The 43 Senate Republicans who joined the amicus brief are Senators Alexander, Barrasso, Blunt, Boozman, Capito, Cassidy, Coats, Cochran, Corker, Cornyn, Cotton, Crapo, Cruz, Daines, Enzi, Fischer, Graham, Grassley, Hatch, Hoeven, Inhofe, Isakson, Johnson, Lankford, Lee, McCain, McConnell, Moran, Paul, Perdue, Risch, Roberts, Rounds, Rubio, Sasse, Scott, Sessions, Shelby, Sullivan, Thune, Tillis, Vitter, and Wicker.

The 11 Senate Republicans who did not join the amicus brief are Senators Ayotte, Burr, Collins, Ernst, Flake, Gardner, Heller, Kirk, Murkowski, Portman, and Toomey.

Stay tuned to FAIR’s U.S. v. Texas resource page for updates on the most important case that the Court will decide this year.