Constitution Index · H.J.Res. 42 · 2025-02-12

Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to "Energy Conservation Program for Appliance Standards: Certification Requirements, Labeling Requirements, and Enforcement Provisions for Certain Consumer Products and Commercial Equipment".

Latest official status (2025-05-09): Became Public Law No: 119-8.

Official source ↗

Constitutional grade

A

Constitutional

HJRES 42 is a constitutional use of congressional oversight to void an executive energy-efficiency reporting and enforcement rule. It asserts no new federal power, infringes no rights, takes no property, and moves decisions away from Washington toward individuals, markets, and states.

Article I, Section 1 Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 Article I, Section 7 Amendment I Amendment IV Amendment IX Amendment X Amendment V

SI-generated grade · passed automated checks (real Constitution citation, language rules) · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology · Report an error: hello@valuesforamerica.com

The five checks

Enumerated powers · passes

Congress acts within explicit authority under Article I, Section 1 vesting legislative power, Article I, Section 8 Clause 18 Necessary and Proper Clause to check executive implementation, and Article I, Section 7 presentment process, using the Congressional Review Act at 5 U.S.C. chapter 8 to disapprove a Department of Energy rule. Disapproving an agency rule is a restraint on unenumerated executive lawmaking, not an assertion of new federal power.

Bill of Rights · passes

Nullification of the DOE certification, labeling, and enforcement rule does not infringe speech, religion, press, arms, search, trial or other rights under Amendments 1-10. It removes compelled reporting and enforcement exposure for manufacturers and reduces federal coercion affecting consumer choice, consistent with the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Ninth Amendment, and Tenth Amendment.

Individual liberty · passes

The joint resolution expands sovereignty rather than restricting it. It relieves manufacturers of additional federal certification and labeling burdens and preserves consumer choice among washing machines, dishwashers, and other products. No restriction on person, property, speech, labor, or belief is imposed; the burden the government had imposed is removed without need for further justification under the Ninth Amendment and Tenth Amendment.

Decentralization · passes

(1) Individuals and families can choose appliances by price and efficiency without federal certification mandates. (2) Local retailers, utilities, and communities can provide efficiency information voluntarily. (3) States retain police powers to set their own efficiency or labeling policies under the Tenth Amendment. (4) HJRES 42 does not consolidate power upward; it reverses upward consolidation by voiding a federal agency rule and returning decisions to markets and states.

Due process and takings · passes

The resolution does not bypass notice, hearing, presumption of innocence, or take property. It removes expanded enforcement provisions that increased risk of penalties under agency procedures, thereby strengthening procedural due process and substantive due process under the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause and Article I, Section 1 vesting of legislative power in Congress rather than agencies.

Provenance

Grade ID
210
Rubric version
vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0
Graded
2026-10-08 10:48 UTC
Engine
primary SI engine
Source fetched
2026-10-08 09:43 UTC
Source SHA-256
3c52ef43a024684fa63817753178e8c057f4f5f01823ee1e9857796f867fdc49
Checks
si-editorial-standard/1.0: real Constitution citation, language rules

Version history · never overwritten

GradeGradedRubric Source hashStatus
A · #210 2026-10-08 vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0 3c52ef43a024 current

Cite this

Values for America. “Constitutional grade: H.J.Res. 42, Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to "Energy Conservation Program for Appliance Standards: Certification Requirements, Labeling Requirements, and Enforcement Provisions for Certain Consumer Products and Commercial Equipment"..” VFA Constitution Index, grade 210 (rubric vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0), graded October 8, 2026. https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution-index/grades/210. Accessed 2026-10-19.

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