Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told his Republican Caucus he will soon announce whether the House will sue President Barack Obama to challenge the potentially unconstitutional actions his administration has taken, according to a report in Roll Call. Boehner did not say which executive actions will be challenged but the lawsuit could zero in on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Under DACA, the Homeland Security Department used a procedure applicable to the disposition of individual cases -- “prosecutorial discretion” -- to give a class of illegal aliens a two-year stay of deportation and a work permit. That sparked a lawsuit by ICE Agents challenging the program’s constitutionality. Although a judge denied that lawsuit on a technicality, he said DACA likely exceeded the president’s authority under the Constitution.
The House has already passed legislation that would expedite House-based lawsuits targeting executive fiat but the Senate has not taken up the bill. Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told Roll Call “The president has a clear record of ignoring the American people’s elected representatives and exceeding his constitutional authority, which has dangerous implications for both our system of government and our economy. The House has passed legislation to address this, but it has gone nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate, so we are examining other options.”
The question of whether an individual Member of Congress can sue is a gray area, but legal experts believe the House itself can pass a resolution to establish a lawsuit.
Read more in Roll Call.
