Opinion Pieces

Two hundred forty-eight years ago, our Founding Fathers set us on the path towards forming a more perfect union. The Founders saw the world in which they lived and imagined a better one not yet in existence – a government where power resided with “we the people” to safeguard our God-given rights. It was a step toward the idea of freedom for all, even though it took the Civil War and civil-rights movement to get here. Our Founders’ great experiment now stands proudly for freedom and liberty around the world. But it is threatened here at home.

Our Declaration of Independence states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident” that “governments are instituted among Men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed.” The “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” entitle the people, not the government, the right to governance.

In the Constitution, the Founders enshrined our rights and formed a nation with three separate but equal branches of government. “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives,” Article 1 of the Constitution states.

Nearly two and a half centuries later, this carefully constructed balance of power has been upended by an army of federal bureaucrats, who have usurped the power our Founders gave “we the people” through their representatives.

Federal agencies have slowly seized the powers granted to Congress and the American people over the years by issuing regulations that distort the clear meaning of our laws and repeatedly dodging congressional oversight. This rule by executive fiat threatens the rights and freedoms of our innovators, small businesses, energy industry, hunters and fishermen, patients and physicians, and all Americans.

Here’s an example: Three years ago, Congress passed the No Surprises Act, a bipartisan bill to provide patients with price transparency and remove the financial burden of surprise out-of-network medical bills. In direct violation of the law that we wrote, the Biden administration and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) implemented rule-making that enriches insurance companies — exactly what we legislated against.

While courts have upheld Congress’ intent in the No Surprises Act, the legal process is costing physicians their practices and patients access to health care.

Unfortunately, our judicial system has allowed itself to be used as a tool to expand agency power and subvert the Founders’ intention for lawmaking to originate in Congress with the people’s representatives. Under a doctrine known as Chevron deference, the Supreme Court created a legal test requiring courts to defer to agency interpretations if Congress had not spoken directly to the precise issue at question. This doctrine has given agencies the green light to reinterpret laws passed by Congress, twisting their meaning to meet the goals of the executive branch. Fortunately, the Supreme Court just ruled to limit the overreaching authorities of the agencies, returning Article 1 authorities back to the hands of the elected representatives of the people.

Agencies can be subject-matter experts to advise Congress, but lawmaking must begin and end in Congress. The laws we pass should not be twisted and subverted via the supposed expertise of unelected bureaucrats in the administrative state, who are accountable to no one. Our Founders were wise to reserve the power of lawmaking to only one branch of government: the legislative branch.

Bureaucratic misbehavior is evident throughout the federal government. In my current role as chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, I’ve seen federal agencies fail to respond to legitimate requests from Congress until they were threatened with subpoenas or removal of funding. Recently, HHS refused to answer questions on its pandemic actions until we issued a subpoena. Employees of the federal government, like Dr. Anthony Fauci’s former top aide Dr. David Morens, seemingly face little to no consequences for serious misconduct and illegal activity.

It’s not just HHS. For years, I’ve served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. During the infamous “Crossfire Hurricane” hoax, the Department of Justice inspector general found more than two dozen “apparent errors or inadequately supported facts” in the FBI’s wiretap applications to the FISA court. Yet then–Deputy Director Andrew McCabe received his full FBI pension and went on to work at CNN. In April, Congress passed 56 FISA-process reforms this year, including serious penalties and criminal liability to prevent the agency abuse and political targeting that occurred during Crossfire Hurricane.

Unethical conduct seems to be par for the course in our federal agencies. But in the military, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) holds that unethical conduct is unlawful conduct. This needs to be the case across the government.

Federal agencies are funded by the American taxpayer, and they are accountable to us. It is long past time for Congress to reassert the powers the Founders gave us and hold agencies accountable. If they do not follow the law, Congress should withhold funding and agencies should expect retribution. If agents of the federal government violate the law, they should regret it.

It is my hope that this Independence Day, as we appreciate what was laid out for each of us to sustain our freedom and our Republic, and reflect on the rights and freedoms we enjoy due to the wisdom of our Founders, that we act zealously to, through the grace of God, guard those freedoms. This great nation of ours, “dedicated to the proposition that all are created equal,” gave us the opportunity and ability to mend our every flaw. We are called to action because our freedoms and rights, guaranteed by our Founders and the Almighty, allow us to do so. Celebrate!

This article originally appeared in the National Review.