Joe Biden's administration is being sued by 21 states after the President signed an executive order revoking the $9 billion Keystone XL pipeline permit.

The president revoked the 1,179-mile pipeline in an executive order on his first day in office, preventing the movement of 830,000 barrels of crude oil from Alberta province in Canada to Illinois, Oklahoma, and Texas.

In the lawsuit, the president is accused of overreaching with his powers by Ken Paxton of Texas and Austin Knudsen of Montana, with the cooperation of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

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The complaint explains: "Revocation of the Keystone XL pipeline permit is a regulation of interstate and international commerce, which can only be accomplished as any other statute can: through the process of bicameralism and presentment.

"The president lacks the power to enact his 'ambitious plan' to reshape the economy in defiance of Congress's unwillingness to do so."

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It continues: "To the extent that Congress had delegated such authority, it would violate the non-delegation doctrine. But Congress has not delegated such authority: it set specific rules regarding what actions the president can take about Keystone XL and when.

"The president, together with various senior executive officials, violated those rules."

CBS News reports that Paxton claims Biden had acted "with complete disregard for the constitutional limits on his power."

The president's actions have resulted in the TC Energy Corporation, the company that designed the pipeline, having to lay off almost 1,000 employees.

Biden revoked the pipeline because he said it would not serve the national interest and argued the U.S. should prioritize "the development of a clean energy economy, which will, in turn, create good jobs."

As per the White House, citing analysis about climate change, Biden said of his order effectively putting an end to the pipeline:

"Approval of the proposed pipeline would undermine US climate leadership by undercutting the credibility and influence of the United States in urging other countries to take ambitious climate action."

While the Obama administration had denied the pipeline's permits, they were approved by the Trump administration in 2019, and work on the pipeline began in 2020.

Featured image credit: Kevin Dietsch/Alamy

21 states sue Biden for revoking $9 billion Keystone XL pipeline permit