President's Initiative on Prescription Drug Costs Blocked by Federal Judge

President's Initiative on Prescription Drug Costs Blocked by Federal Judge

On Monday, July 9, 2019, a federal judge blocked a White House initiative on prescription drug costs.  The president’s authority is limited by the Constitution.  The president may issue executive orders, proclamations, or initiatives that are expressly or impliedly authorized by Congress or part of the president’s Inherent powers found in the Constitution.  Inherent powers are powers outside the expressed or implied powers granted to Congress, or part of Congress’s implied powers where Congress has not yet spoken on the issue. 

On Monday, the judge stated that Trump administration lacked the legal authority to require drug makers to disclose their prices in TV ads and the neither the law’s “text, structure, nor context evince an intent by Congress to empower (administrative agencies) to issue a rule that compels drug manufacturers to disclose list prices […] [N]o matter how vexing the problem of spiraling drug costs may be, HHS cannot do more than what Congress has authorized. The responsibility rests with Congress to act in the first instance.”