House Speaker John Boehner said the chamber will sue President Barack Obama’s administration over what he called a pattern of ignoring parts of federal laws the president doesn’t like.
“The president is not faithfully executing the laws of our country,” Boehner told reporters. “On behalf of the institution, and our Constitution, standing up and fighting for this is in the best long-term interest of the Congress.”
He said Obama takes unilateral action in areas such as immigration. Republicans also have objected to administration waivers on laws including health care and education.
The administration in late 2013 exempted from penalties people whose health-care plans were canceled because they didn’t meet Obamacare rules to carry medical insurance.
The administration has also eased rules on deportations, hasn’t aggressively enforced some laws against marijuana possession and gave states waivers from education achievement penalties if they adopted changes that met with the Education Department’s approval.
The House of Representatives can sue for enforcement of laws, though individual members can’t. Republicans have majority control of the House and earlier this year passed legislation that would affirm Congress’s right to sue and speed consideration of such lawsuits.
The White House threatened to veto the bill, H.R. 4138, and it has stalled in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Boehner, an Ohio Republican, has repeatedly said the White House is the reason Republicans have refused to take up immigration legislation, saying they can’t trust Obama to enforce whatever law might be enacted.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said efforts to sue the president are “subterfuge” designed to distract from Republican inaction on other topics including immigration.
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-06-25/boehner-said-to-consider-su…
Thoughts?
Probably more of a PR stunt than anything for the midterm elections. Interesting that Boehner is taking an aggressive stance on this though. It's smart for the Republicans to ride the Obama disapproval wave for as long as they can seeing as the POTUS' ratings are nearing the lowest of all time.
I would agree that it is a PR stunt but I would disagree on your second point. Obama's approval ratings are heavenly compared to the approval ratings of Congress and this move may lower Obama's approval rating but it will lower Congress's approval rating as well. How much lower can they go below their current approval rating of like 13%?
True, it's all about deflecting the blame. At this point does Congress even care about their approval rating though? I understand they are trying to save their seats, but I think Obama and the Democrats have more to lose. However, if this move by Republicans in Congress flops - which it very will could - it could boost Hillary into higher contention and possibly alter the outcome of some Midterm races.
Completely agree, the GOP in particular the House, is playing a short term game of gaining seats in the House and potentially picking up the Senate. The problem is, if and when that happens, they will likely fail to do anything productive for the country in the next two years and they will piss off the American people ever more before 2016. If that happens, the energy to elect Clinton will drive voters to the polls and vote Democrat for House and Senate races as it did in 2008 with Obama.
Partisan posturing and bullshit.
They are all scumbags.
Ted Cruz for President
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