Conyers v. Bush

Honorable John Conyers, Jr., et al. v. George W. Bush, et al., No. 2:06-CV-11972, 2006 WL 3834224 (E.D. Mich. 2006), is a lawsuit in which Rep. John Conyers Jr. and others alleged that President George W. Bush violated the United States Constitution by signing a bill that was not passed by the United States Congress.

Nature of claim

John Conyers (a ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee), along with 10 other members of Congress, filed a lawsuit on April 28, 2006 at the district court in Detroit^[1] seeking a restraining order (injunctive relief) preventing the execution of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, S. 1932. The plaintiffs also sought a declaration that the bill be declared unconstitutional and not valid law.

Parties

Plaintiffs

• John Conyers
• John Dingell
• George Miller
• Charles Rangel
• Collin Peterson
• Bennie Thompson
• Jim Oberstar
• Barney Frank
• Pete Stark
• Sherrod Brown
• Louise Slaughter

Defendants

• George W. Bush
• Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns
• Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez
• Education Secretary Margaret Spellings
• Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
• Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson
• Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta
• Treasury Secretary John W. Snow

Outcome

The case was dismissed on November 6, 2006 by federal judge Nancy G. Edmunds in Detroit, who cited the representatives' lack of standing.^[2]

References

1. ^ USA Today (2006-04-28). "11 House Members to Sue Over Budget Bill". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-04-28-budget-lawsuit_x.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-18. 
2. ^ United States District Court Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division (2006-11-06). "Conyers v. Bush". United States District Court Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division. Archived from the original on 2007-06-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20070630224218/http://www.mied.uscourts.gov/eGov/edmundspdf/Conyers_v_Bush.pdf. Retrieved 2007-03-19.