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 U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer, appointed by former President
George W. Bush, a Republican, said the House of Representatives has
standing to pursue claims that the secretaries of health and human
services and of the Treasury violated the Constitution by spending
funds Congress did not appropriate.
At the same time, Collyer determined they could not pursue claims
that the Treasury secretary improperly amended the healthcare law,
as those concerned only the implementation of a statute and not
adherence to any congressional requirement.
Collyer did not rule on the merits of the claims, only on the
administration's motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the issue of
standing, a requirement in U.S. law whereby plaintiffs have to show
they have been directly harmed.
On that issue, "the constitutional trespass alleged in this case
would inflict a concrete, particular harm upon the House for which
it has standing to seek redress in this court," Collyer wrote in her
opinion.
The Department of Justice will appeal the court's ruling, said
spokesman Patrick Rodenbush. An appeal could further delay
proceedings on the merits of the claims.
White House spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman called the decision
unprecedented.
"This case is just another partisan attack, this one, paid for by
the taxpayers; and we believe the courts will ultimately dismiss
it," she said in a statement.
House Republicans filed the lawsuit in November, saying
administration officials overreached in authorizing Treasury
payments to healthcare insurers and delaying the law's employer
mandate.
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In a statement, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, said
the ruling showed the Obama administration's "historic overreach can
be challenged by the coequal branch of government with the sole
power to create or change the law."
The 2010 Affordable Care Act, the Democratic president's biggest
domestic policy achievement was bolstered by a Supreme Court
decision in June that upheld federal tax subsidies that helps
millions of Americans afford coverage.
The case is United States House of Representatives v. Burwell et al,
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No 14-1967
(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Additional reporting by Nate
Raymond, Lawrence Hurley and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Doina
Chiacu, Mohammad Zargham and David Gregorio)
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