House Speaker John Boehner has confirmed he will file a lawsuit against the Obama administration for its use of executive actions to change laws.
John Boehner said: “I believe the President is not faithfully executing the laws of our country, and 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 would not say which executive action the lawsuit would target specifically.
The specifics and mechanics of the suit have yet to be worked out, but John Boehner could enlist an organization called the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) to carry it out.
Because that body is controlled by the Speaker, the Majority Leader, the Majority Whip, the Minority Leader and the Minority Whip, Republicans could order the lawsuit to go ahead even if Democrats objected.
John Boehner insisted Wednesday that the lawsuit does not amount to an effort to impeach the president.
“This is not about impeachment, this is about his faithfully executing the laws of our country,” he said.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said he is confident President Barack Obama has operated well within the confines of the law and that Republicans have brought the suit simply because they disagree with Obama’s policies.
The GOP’s unwillingness to compromise has forced the president to take more executive actions, Earnest said.
“The fact that they are considering a taxpayer-funded lawsuit against the president of the United States for doing his job, I think, is the kind of step that most Americans wouldn’t support,” Josh Earnest said.
“This lawsuit is not going to consume the attention of the White House,” he added.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, on Wednesday called the lawsuit “subterfuge”.
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