House Votes To Allow Obama Lawsuit

In a historically unprecedented move, the House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to sue President Barack Obama for overstepping his presidential powers.

In a party-line vote of 225 to 201, House Republicans authorized House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to file a lawsuit seeking “appropriate relief” from what they claim is Obama’s unilateral application of the Affordable Care Act.
The suit is likely to claim that Obama exceeded his executive authority when his administration twice delayed a provision of the ACA that would penalize businesses that do not offer health insurance to their employees.
Boehner insisted the suit was not merely a partisan swipe at Obama, who is a Democrat. “This isn’t about Republicans and Democrats,” Boehner said Wednesday. “It’s about defending the Constitution that we swore an oath to uphold, and acting decisively when it may be compromised.”
The lawsuit ups the stakes in an already contentious and hyper-partisan environment in Washington, D.C. While individual members of Congress have sued sitting presidents before, neither the House nor the Senate has ever challenged a president’s legal authority in the courts.
Democrats have slammed the suit as a political stunt and come to the president’s defense.
“It is yet another Republican effort to pander to the most radical right-wing voters at taxpayers’ expense,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Legal experts say the Supreme Court has refused to become involved in all previous political fights between Congress and the president and will likely side-step the case.