A specialty burger shop and pub in Washington, D.C., is suing the city’s health department, alleging it overstepped its authority by closing the restaurant down earlier this year after repeated violations of the district’s vaccine mandate.
The Big Board filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday, arguing the department and the city government overstepped by issuing emergency orders earlier this year that required district businesses to verify patrons’ vaccination statuses before allowing them to enter. The restaurant refused to comply with the mandates, resulting in a number of hefty fines and a forced closure that lasted for several weeks — even after the city’s vaccine mandate expired.
RESTAURANT CLOSED FOR VIOLATING CITYWIDE VACCINE MANDATE SUES DC HEALTH DEPARTMENT
“We are seeking a declaration that the underlying orders were unlawful. … Yes, the pandemic, according to Biden, is now officially in the rearview mirror, but what happens the next time there’s an emergency?” Robert Alt, president and CEO of the Buckeye Institute and the lawyer representing the Big Board in court, told the Washington Examiner. “I do think there would be an opportunity here for a D.C. committee to exercise oversight over what happened in this case.”
The lawsuit targets the city government’s use of emergency legislation, arguing it “violated federal law governing the District of Columbia’s authority to pass ordinances and other laws” through the D.C. Home Rule Act. Under the rule, the city is permitted to pass laws through the city council with the caveat that each law is subject to congressional approval, putting the district under the control of Congress for each of its local mandates.
However, local lawmakers are permitted to pass emergency legislation that is effective for up to 90 days without congressional approval. Washington lawmakers passed the vaccine mandate for local businesses under this emergency rule, prompting arguments from Big Board that it violated the Constitution by evading oversight and making “a mockery of congressional review.”
“By stacking emergency acts and orders for two years, the District evaded congressional review and closed the courthouse doors to Mr. Flannery and thousands of other D.C. residents,” Alt said. “This end run around the Home Rule Act made a mockery of congressional review and simultaneously denied Americans their constitutional rights and due process.”
The D.C Home Rule Act has allowed the city government to have a sense of legislative autonomy since its passage in 1973. However, the law has come under scrutiny in recent months as some Republicans have suggested doing away with the provision altogether — hinting it may be on some lawmakers’ agendas if the GOP wins control of Congress in November.
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) indicated plans to propose legislation that would seek to eliminate the D.C. Home Rule, putting the district under Congress’s control.
“Mayor Bowser’s decision to impose draconian mandates and shut down Big Board for failing to comply with unscientific and unconstitutional rules perfectly illustrates both how the abuses of D.C. Home Rule have gone too far and why Congress must swiftly act to return our capital city to the American people,” Clyde told the Washington Examiner. “I applaud Eric Flannery’s fight against D.C. Home Rule and Mayor Bowser’s medical tyranny, and I remain committed to repealing the Home Rule Act in order to prevent D.C. Democrats’ failed leadership from further encroaching on the freedoms of residents, visitors, and small businesses.”
However, it’s not clear whether a ruling in Big Board’s favor would necessarily pave the way for the repeal of Washington’s self-government, according to legal experts.
“My sense is that this lawsuit actually has relatively minor implications for D.C.’s Home Rule powers, the reason being that the challenge is the way that the district used emergency powers,” said GianCarlo Canaparo, a senior fellow with the Heritage Foundation. “So a win here would essentially say that the D.C. government abused its emergency powers, but it wouldn’t otherwise curtail the Home Rule Act.”
But it could sway Congress to consider amending the Home Rule Act to rein in some of its power, according to Canaparo.
“A win here requires the court to say that D.C. abused its emergency powers under the Home Rule Act,” he said. “That is a good reason for Congress to consider amending the Home Rule Act maybe to limit those emergency powers because D.C. has shown that it can’t be trusted with them.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
It’s not clear whether a bill proposing to limit D.C.’s self-governance would pass Congress, although it’s likely to face pushback from Democrats. Rep. Eleanor Norton, who represents the district in the House, has vowed to fight against such efforts.
“Representative Clyde plainly wants the federal government to resume running D.C. as a colony,” Norton said in a statement earlier this year. “He wants to take away even the limited self-government the nearly 700,000 D.C. residents, a majority of whom are minorities, have had for the last 50 years and give Congress and, presumably, congressionally or presidentially appointed administrators, day-to-day control over D.C.”
