GOP, Dems Fight Over Legality of Suing Obama

A planned House Republican lawsuit against President Barack Obama is justified because his actions carrying out his health care law dangerously exceed his powers, constitutional lawyers backing the litigation told lawmakers Wednesday.

Attorneys allied with Democrats in opposing the election-year suit said it’s the GOP that’s going too far by trying to resolve a political dispute by handing the question to the federal courts to decide.

The lawyers appeared before the House Rules Committee, which is considering Republican-written legislation authorizing the House to file the lawsuit. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has said he wants to take legal action because Obama has abused his authority to carry out laws Congress approves, specifically by delaying a health care law requirement that many employers provide medical coverage for workers.

In recent months, Republicans have attacked Obama for taking actions like having the Environmental Protection Agency curb emissions from coal-fired power plants, raising the minimum wage for federal contractors and blocking the deportation of children illegally brought into the U.S. by their parents. GOP lawmakers say their lawsuit is simply an attempt to defend Congress’ powers against a president who they say has made a habit of acting unilaterally to carry out personal policy preferences.

“This is not a political issue. This is not an issue that should pit Republicans against Democrats,” said Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, the Rules Committee chairman.

“Any person interested in our Constitution and our brilliant system of separation of powers should be worried about what is currently happening in our country,” Sessions said.

Democrats mocked the legal action as a purely political exercise that is doomed to failure but aimed at appeasing conservatives who want to see Obama impeached. The Rules committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York, called it “preposterous” and noted that, in effect, Republicans are filing suit over a delay in a part of a law that every GOP lawmaker opposed and that the House has voted about 50 times to repeal or pare back.

“This is a partisan political stunt timed to peak in the House of Representatives in November, right as the midterm elections are happening,” Slaughter said. “The House majority is suing the president simply for doing his job.”

The House is expected to vote on the resolution before leaving for its August recess.

This article appeared in print on page 2 of the July 17th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.