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 In a party-line, 225-201 vote, the House of Representatives
authorized the Republican-drafted lawsuit, which will focus on
unilateral changes Obama has made to the Affordable Care Act, his
signature health care law. All Democrats and five Republicans
opposed the measure.
On the House floor, Republican lawmakers reverently invoked
America's founders in accusing Obama of bypassing Congress.
"This isn't about Republicans and Democrats, it's about defending
the Constitution that we swore an oath to uphold," said House
Speaker John Boehner.
But Obama, in a campaign-style speech, made fun of his political
adversaries, laughing as he accused them of wasting time instead of
addressing more pressing issues.
"Stop being mad all the time. Stop, stop, stop just hatin’ all the
time," he said of Republicans, drawing loud cheers from a raucous
crowd of about 1,500 in an ornate theater in Kansas City.
Wednesday's vote cemented the Republican lawsuit's status as a
lightning rod for months of bitter campaign rhetoric from both
parties ahead of elections in November that will determine control
of Congress next year.
Republicans have complained loudly that Obama has exercised
"king-like" authority in taking executive actions ranging from
raising the minimum wage for federal contractors to extending
benefits to same-sex partners. But they have narrowed the focus of
their suit, to be filed later this summer, to Obamacare because they
believe this has the best chance of succeeding in the federal court
system.
Obama disparaged the lawsuit effort as nothing but election-year
political theater and a distraction from issues such as highway
construction or the southwestern border crisis.
"There’s a bunch of stuff that needs to get done," he said.
"Unfortunately, I think the main vote ... that they’ve scheduled for
today is whether or not they decide to sue me for doing my job."
House Democrats said the suit would consume millions of dollars of
taxpayer funds but would ultimately fail to undermine the
president's discretion in implementing laws.
"This a veiled attempt to impeach the president," said Democratic
Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee, a Democrat.
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Boehner this week tamped down talk that the lawsuit was a prelude to
impeachment proceedings aimed at removing Obama from office. He
accused Democrats of trying to promote the idea to whip up
anti-Republican sentiment and raise campaign funds.
Another influential Republican, Representative Paul Ryan, told
reporters on Wednesday that he backed the lawsuit because he
believed it would show clear violations of law by Obama.
"The lawsuit has intellectual merit because we want to show that
we're not going to take this lying down," Ryan said at a breakfast
hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
With Republicans in control of the House, Obama's agenda has been
thwarted by congressional gridlock, leaving him to take executive
actions to make changes where he has the power to do so.
The president has been delivering variations of the fiery stump
speech all summer as he tours the country trying to motivate
Democrats - and wealthy donors - to get involved in November's
congressional elections in the hopes of thwarting a Republican
takeover of the Senate.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Additional writing and reporting by
Steve Holland and Mark Felsenthal in Washington; Editing by Dan
Grebler)
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