Case On Consitutionality Of Deficit Reduction Act Continues

The constitutionality of the Deficit Reduction Act has been challenged on the grounds that the bill did not pass both houses of Congress in the same form. That Act, assuming it truly is an Act of Congress, includes Social Security provisions, most prominently delays in the payment of back SSI benefits. Thus far, all of the District Courts that have considered the matter have unheld the Deficit Reduction Act on the basis of a old Supreme Court decision.

The most prominent of the cases on the Deficit Reduction Act was brought by Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. That case has now reached the Court of Appeals and Public Citizen has filed its brief with the D.C. Court of Appeals. Because of the sweep of the Deficit Reduction Act, a win for Public Citizen would have dramatic consequences not just for Social Security, but for the government as a whole.