Lathrop GPM attorneys Jean Paul Bradshaw II and Mike Piazza filed an amicus brief in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in conjunction with non-profit ICAN (Investor Choice Advocates Network) on behalf of 35 members of Congress supporting a challenge to the constitutionality of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s climate rule.

DALLAS, July 25, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Lathrop GPM attorneys Jean Paul Bradshaw II and Mike Piazza filed an amicus brief in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in conjunction with non-profit ICAN (Investor Choice Advocates Network) on behalf of 35 members of Congress supporting a challenge to the constitutionality of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s climate rule. The rule was adopted in March 2024 and imposes broad disclosure requirements upon all publicly traded companies concerning greenhouse gas emission data.

Among the members of Congress joining the brief are Senator Kevin Cramer (North Dakota), Representative Kevin Hern (Oklahoma), Senators Eric Schmitt (Missouri), Ted Cruz (Texas), Tim Scott (South Carolina), and Marco Rubio (Florida), and Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Jason Smith (Missouri). The brief focuses on constitutional and statutory issues raised by the breadth and scope of the Rule. Specifically, the Separation of Powers and Major Questions doctrines are analyzed, as are statutory limits on the SEC's rule making authority. At issue is the potential usurpation of congressional legislative authority by federal agencies that are part of the executive branch. Moreover, the sweeping climate-related disclosure requirements imposed by the Rule far exceed the SEC's materiality authority, which permits it to mandate the disclosure only of financially material information.

"Under the Constitution, Congress has sole authority to enact legislation, and the SEC's climate rule as enacted constitutes administrative overreach by a federal agency," said Piazza. "Moreover, the SEC has no authority to address major climate policy questions absent clear Congressional intent to grant it such authority which did not happen in this instance."

Bradshaw noted, "recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions set forth clear limits on the powers of federal agencies, and this challenge to the SEC's climate rule is the most recent example of an agency exceeding its congressional mandate."

The brief is filed in support of the petition by the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers and the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance to vacate the rule, one of multiple challenges filed against the SEC around the country since approving the rule in March 2024. Those challenges have been consolidated and are pending in the Eighth Circuit. In an uncharacteristic and unusual move, the SEC voluntarily stayed the date the rule was to become effective, a clear acknowledgment of the multiple and serious legal challenges pending before the Court of Appeals.

Read the Amicus brief

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