Taking President Obama to Court

Each Member of Congress and the president take an oath and swear to faithfully “preserve, protect, and defend” the United States Constitution, which provides separate powers for our nation’s three equal branches of government – the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches.

Article I of the Constitution grants Congress the authority to write the laws of the land while Article II entrusts the president to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”

However, all too often over the past five years, President Obama has evaded the Constitution – and Congress – by selectively enforcing the law and, in some instances, ignoring or changing it altogether.

In no way have Americans witnessed this president waive, suspend, or rewrite the rules to meet his own needs more than with his signature law, Obamacare.

When the Executive Branch oversteps its bounds and ignores our nation’s constitutional checks and balances, it is critical for the Judiciary – the third branch of our government – to carry out its duties in rebalancing the separation of powers.

The aggressive authoritarian approach practiced by President Obama presents a challenge to the constitutional balance of powers and Congress is compelled to respond and defend its authority to write laws.

That is why I support allowing the House of Representatives to file a lawsuit in an effort to compel President Obama to follow his oath of office and faithfully execute the laws of our nation.

Make no mistake – this lawsuit is not about partisan politics.

This is about the unconstitutional and unilateral actions taken by this Executive Branch.

This is about defending the Constitution and protecting our democracy.

If the current president can get away with making up his own laws or ignoring the laws Congress writes, then all future presidents – no matter what their political affiliation may be – may follow his precedent.

This is not how our system of government was designed to work.

President George Washington wrote in his farewell address, “Let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.”

Through this lawsuit, the House of Representatives will take a critical step in reining in this president and defending the separation of powers put forth in the Constitution that makes our government unique so that it endures for generations to come.