Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit to prevent the “unlawful restriction” of offshore oil drilling Monday morning.
The action marks Paxton’s final lawsuit against the Biden administration, with 106 suits filed over the past four years.
Earlier this month, then-President Joe Biden announced that he would ban oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He did so under the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which allows presidents to stop oil and gas leasing and development in federal waters.
President Donald Trump has previously stated that he would undo the measure on his first day, even if it had to be challenged in court.
Now, Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the ban.
The lawsuit, joined by W&T Offshore, Inc., states that “President Biden’s last-minute attempt to dictate federal policy on oil and natural gas in perpetuity runs afoul of the Constitution.”
“By permanently withdrawing the eastern Gulf of Mexico from consideration for oil and gas development, President Biden has overstepped his authority, infringing upon the powers granted to Congress by the Framers, and violating separation of powers protections enshrined in the Constitution,” the lawsuit reads.
Paxton is asking the court to enjoin Biden’s withdrawal from certain parts of the Outer Continental Shelf and prevent it from taking effect.
“In 2021, I became the first State Attorney General to sue Biden just three days into his failed administration. Now, I will be the last AG to sue Biden on his way out of Washington,” said Paxton. “The past four years saw the repeated, intentional effort by Biden and his deep state cronies to subvert our laws, destabilize our nation, and undermine our freedoms. I worked tirelessly to stop these attempts and won time and time again.”
With Trump taking office, the lawsuit may shift automatically to his administration, or it may become moot if Trump revokes Biden’s ban.