Murphy Co. v. Biden

A claim against the president is justiciable if the ultra vires claim alleges that separation of powers principles were violated due to a lack of constitutional and statutory authority. Larson v. Domestic & Foreign Com. Corp., 337 U.S. 682 (1949); Sierra Club v. Trump, 963 F.3d 874 (9th Cir. 2020).

The president may expand land grants under the Antiquities Act without conflicting with the O&C Act because the Secretary of the Interior retains broad discretion to manage the land relevant to the O&C Act.

Plaintiff appealed a grant of summary judgement to the United States and intervenor, Soda Mountain. Presidential Proclamation 9564 expanded the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument under the Antiquities Act. Plaintiff alleged the President and the Secretary of the Interior acted unconstitutionally and beyond their delegated statutory authority as this expansion violated the Oregon and California Railroad and Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant Lands Act (O&C Act), which reserves a portion of the land in question for timber production. The Court found that a claim against the president is justiciable if the ultra vires claim alleges that separation of powers principles were violated due to a lack of constitutional and statutory authority. Larson v. Domestic Foreign Com. Corp., 337 U.S. 682 (1949); Sierra Club v. Trump, 963 F.3d 874 (9th Cir. 2020). After establishing jurisdiction, the court found that the Proclamation was a valid exercise of the President’s authority under the Antiquities Act because the O&C Act gives discretion to the Secretary of the Interior to designate land to timber production, and the overlap of land governed by these two acts was a fraction of the area controlled by the O&C Act. Because the Proclamation did not violate the O&C Act, summary judgement in favor of the United States was upheld. Affirmed.