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ByWillWeissert The Associated Press AUSTIN, TEXAS Texas is leading a 17-state coali- tion suing over President Barack Obama's recently announced executive ac- tions on immigration, ar- guing in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that the move "tramples" key portions of the U.S. Constitution. Many top Republicans have denounced Obama's unilateral move, which was designed to spare as many as 5 million peo- ple living illegally in the United States from depor- tation. But Texas Gov.-elect Greg Abbott took it a step further, filing a formal le- gal challenge in federal court in the Southern Dis- trict of Texas. His state is joined by 16 other mostly conservative states, largely in the south and Midwest, such as Alabama, Geor- gia, Idaho, Indiana and the Carolinas. The states aren't seek- ing monetary damages, but instead want the courts to block Obama's actions. The lawsuit could make things awkward come Fri- day, when Abbott travels to Washington to meet with Obama as part of a group of newly elected governors. Under Obama's order, announced Nov. 20, pro- tection from deportation and the right to work will be extended to an esti- mated 4.1 million parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years and to hun- dreds of thousands more young people. The lawsuit raises three objections: that Obama violated the "Take Care Clause" of the U.S. Con- stitution that Abbott said limits the scope of pres- idential power; that the federal government didn't follow proper rulemaking procedures; and that the order will "exacerbate the humanitarian crisis along the southern border, which will affect increased state investment in law enforce- ment, health care and ed- ucation." Abbott said Obama's actions "directly violate a fundamental promise to the American people" and that it was up to the pres- ident to "execute the law, not de facto make law." Republican presidents, including Ronald Reagan, have issued past execu- tive orders pertaining to immigration. Abbott said those were in response to actions by Congress — un- like Obama, who Abbott said acted in lieu of con- gressional approval. Overwhelmingly elected governor last month, Ab- bott has been Texas attor- ney general since 2002. Wednesday marks the 31st time he has sued the federal government since Obama took office. Many of those were over environmental regulations or the White House's signa- ture health care law, how- ever. The only other high- profile lawsuit against Obama's executive order has come on behalf of Ar- izona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Earlier this week, House Majority Leader John Boehner told lawmakers the GOP-led House may vote to undo Obama's exec- utive action, but the move would be mostly symbolic, as Obama would certainly veto such legislation and the Democratic-led Senate wouldn't go for it, either. LEGAL CHALLENGE Multistate coalition sues over immigration order By Erica Werner Associated Press WASHINGTON In a defi- ant challenge to GOP lead- ers, immigration hardlin- ers in Congress announced Wednesday they will op- pose upcoming legislation to keep the government open. They demanded spe- cific provisions to stop Pres- ident Barack Obama's exec- utive actions that granted a reprieve from deportation for millions. "We aren't with our vote going to give him one dime to execute his illegal ac- tion, and we believe the American people are go- ing to stand with us," said Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., at a press con- ference outside the Capi- tol where she was joined by other House conservatives and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Cruz warned against "having a meaningless show vote" and said: "We should announce we mean what we say, we will use our constitutional authorities to force this president to faith- fully execute the laws." The growing conserva- tive opposition was a prob- lem for House Speaker John Boehner and other Repub- lican leaders a day after they presented House Re- publicans with a two-part plan to respond to Obama's move on immigration and keep the government run- ning past Dec. 11, when a current funding measure expires. The plan involved voting on stand-alone leg- islation this week to de- clare Obama's immigra- tion move "null and void." Then next week, lawmak- ers would pass a spending bill that funds most govern- ment operations for a year but keeps the Department of Homeland Security run- ning only for a few months. Since Homeland Security overseas immigration is- sues, the approach is meant to maintain leverage over those programs and revisit them next year when Re- publicans will control both the House and the Senate. But for the most con- servative House members, the approach does not do enough to rein in Obama, who incited GOP wrath with his move last month to grant work permits to some 4 million immigrants living in the country ille- gally. These conservatives dismiss the stand-alone bill planned for this week as a meaningless gesture, since it would face certain death in the Senate, and are push- ing for the spending bill to include language stripping out money to enact Obama's plans. Party leaders and many more pragmatic Republi- cans fear such an approach could result in a govern- ment shutdown since Obama would be sure to veto any such measure. "I just don't think it's the time in the process where we need to be digging in our heels and drawing red lines in the sand and threat- ening potential shutdowns and a lot of upheaval," said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark. Many of the same law- makers now working to op- pose Boehner on immigra- tion helped provoke a gov- ernment shutdown a year ago in a failed attempt to stop Obama's health care law. Republican leaders have made crystal clear they want to avoid a repeat of that outcome, although the political damage turned out to be short-lived. Then, as now, Cruz crossed the Capitol to prod House Republicans to defy their leaders and withhold support, and outside groups such as Heritage Action agi- tated for confrontation. The conservative opposi- tion may mean that House GOP leaders have to rely on some Democratic votes to approve their funding measure. It's not clear how much Democratic support there would be, and several Democrats said they were withholding judgment for now. But the situation will likely give Democrats more leverage over the content of the spending measures. At the White House, Press Secretary Josh Ear- nest left open the possibil- ity Obama could sign the spending measure being developed by Republicans, even with the shortened funding piece for the Home- land Security Department. Obama himself said he understood Republicans would "take a couple stabs at rolling back" his exec- utive actions but said he hoped a legislative solution would then become possi- ble. "Temperatures need to cool a bit in the wake of my executive action," he said at a meeting with business leaders. Meanwhile a 17-state co- alition led by Texas filed a lawsuit against Obama's ex- ecutive actions on immigra- tion. CONGRESS Hardliners push opposing Obama immigration actions By Mark Sherman The Associated Press WASHINGTON Two of the three women on the Su- preme Court vigorously questioned a UPS law- yer Wednesday over the company's refusal to give lighter duty to a pregnant worker, a closely watched case with potentially broad impact for female workers and their employers. Questions from several justices during arguments suggested the court could be searching for a middle ground in the dispute be- tween United Parcel Ser- vice and former driver Peggy Young. UPS declined to give the woman temporary light- duty work so she could avoid lifting heavy pack- ages after she became preg- nant in 2006. Young was in the court- room Wednesday to hear the justices talk about em- ployers' responsibilities un- der the 36-year-old Preg- nancy Discrimination Act. With some of their male colleagues unusually quiet, Justices Ruth Bader Gins- burg and Elena Kagan re- peatedly pressed UPS law- yer Caitlin Halligan over the Atlanta-based package delivery company's refusal to find a temporary assign- ment for Young. The anti-discrimina- tion law "was supposed to be about removing stereo- types of pregnant women as marginal workers. It was supposed to be about ensuring that they wouldn't be unfairly excluded from the workplace. And what you are saying is that there's a policy that accom- modates some workers but puts all pregnant women on one side of the line," Ka- gan said. Defending the compa- ny's actions, Halligan said UPS did not provide light- duty work to any employ- ees unless they were in- jured on the job, had a con- dition that was covered by the Americans With Dis- abilities Act or lost their federal certificate to drive a commercial vehicle. Ginsburg challenged Halligan to come up with an example of someone who asked for lighter duty but didn't get it, other than pregnant women. "Is there an employee who asked for a dispensation because of a medical condition that re- stricted her ability to lift, to any single employee?" Gins- burg asked. Halligan re- plied, "There's not a name provided in the record be- cause one was not elicited by (Young) whose burden it was." Young's dispute with UPS arose after she gave her supervisor a doc- tor's note recommending that she not lift packages heavier than 20 pounds. Young said she dealt al- most exclusively with over- night letters, but UPS said its drivers must be able to lift packages weighing up to 70 pounds. Young left the company in 2009. UPS has since changed its policy and says it will voluntarily offer pregnant women light duty starting in January. Halligan noted that nine states now have laws that require an accommodation for pregnant workers, and she urged the justices to let elected lawmakers make these kinds of policy deci- sions, rather than federal judges. "I want to point out that this is an area where the democratic process is working as it should," Hal- ligan said. The states are: Califor- nia, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Mary- land, Minnesota, New Jer- sey and West Virginia. More than 120 congres- sional Democrats are back- ing legislation that would change federal law to make explicit the requirement to accommodate pregnant women. Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey said the bill is modeled after the land- mark Americans With Dis- abilities Act. "It would make sure that pregnant workers have the same measure of protec- tion," Casey said before the start of a rally outside the court in support of Young. The Obama administra- tion and an unusual array of liberal and conservative interest groups are sup- porting Young, who lives with her 7-year-old daugh- ter, Triniti, in Lorton, Vir- ginia. In court on Wednesday, Samuel Bagenstos, Young's lawyer, ran into early trou- ble from Justice Anthony Kennedy. "You make it sound as if the only condi- tion that was not accommo- dated was a lifting restric- tion because of pregnancy," Kennedy said, calling that a "misimpression." Kennedy asked just a few questions and Chief Justice John Roberts commented just twice during the argu- ment. Since the justices agreed in July to hear the case, the Equal Employment Oppor- tunity Commission has up- dated guidance to employ- ers to make clear that they should accommodate peo- ple in Young's situation. Yet the U.S. Postal Ser- vice, an independent fed- eral agency, maintains the practice that UPS has now abandoned, UPS said in court papers. The Postal Service declined to com- ment. Solicitor General Don- ald Verrilli acknowledged in court Wednesday that the Justice Department has previously defended the Postal Service in similar lawsuits. Verrilli pointed to the recent EEOC change to justify the administration's shift in legal strategy. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is among those on UPS' side. The chamber says many of its members do provide additional ben- efits to pregnant workers, but it says policies at thou- sands of companies would be upended if the court were to rule for Young. Lower federal courts have rejected her claim. Kagan said she was putting forth a "middle ground" that would force those courts to re-examine Young's case with a more accepting view of the dis- crimination claim. UPS and other employers facing similar suits would then be able to argue their policies were legal because they were based on seniority or some other acceptable rea- son, Kagan said. 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