WASHINGTON – House Republicans have a new, even more confrontational message for President Obama: “See you in court!”
House Speaker John Boehner announced Wednesday that he’s taking the first steps to have the House sue Obama for “ignoring” statutes and “creating laws of his own.”
“President Obama’s aggressive unilateralism has significant implications for our system of government, and presents a clear challenge to our institution and its ability to effectively represent the people,” Boehner said in a letter to GOP colleagues.
Boehner brushed off another avenue specifically provided in the Constitution – impeachment – although some observers say the lawsuit is an effort to fire up his troops while sapping energy from the more dangerous course before the midterm elections.
“This is not about impeachment,” Boehner insisted. “This is about faithfully executing the laws of our country.”
The suit is an effort to hit back at Obama for his aggressive use of executive actions on a range of issues, including curbing carbon emissions at power plants, stopping deportations of immigrants brought here as children, and numerous improvised changes to Obamacare during its disastrous rollout.
Obama has also boosted the minimum wage for federal contractors and extended family leave benefits to gay couples without congressional approval.
Obama calls it his “pen and phone” strategy, and the White House says it is the only alternative because of Republican obstructionism.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest blasted the Republicans for taking on a “taxpayer funded lawsuit.”
“If they relish the opportunity to have a legalistic, litigious discussion about the steps the president has taken on behalf of middle class families … it’s certainly I assume within their legal rights to do so,” Earnest told reporters.
The House and Senate have filed legal actions before, such as when House Republicans challenged the Defense of Marriage Act in court when the Obama administration stopped defending it.
For the House to sue, legislation must move through a leadership-controlled committee, then the leadership-controlled Rules Committee, and the full House, where Republicans have a strong majority.
Boehner said the House would take up the legislation in July.
“If the current president can selectively enforce, change or create laws as he chooses with impunity, without the involvement of the legislative branch, his successors will be able to do the same,” Boehner wrote, although he didn’t raise similar concerns when Democrats complained of overreach by President Bush.