Congressional Republicans are considering various options to curb President Obama’s use of executive powers, which they say are excessive.
GOP officials have long claimed that the president has violated the law and the Constitution through administrative actions on issues ranging from immigration to nominations to the U.S. military involvement in Libya.
But the president’s recent move to change ObamaCare through an administrative fix has sparked a new round of discussions within the conservative base and Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) last week said he was “highly skeptical” Obama could find a fix for the cancellation of health insurance plans that was both “legal and effective.”
“I just don’t see, within the law, their ability to do that,” said the Speaker.
An hour later, Obama was outlining such a change to reporters at the White House.
House Republicans passed a bill that would allow people to keep their health plan. Despite a veto threat, 39 Democrats backed the legislation written by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.).
“I know there’s a lot of discussion about the validity of the president just unilaterally changing the law. ... There are a lot of us that are very concerned about it,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said in an interview with The Hill.
Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), the chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, said, “We’re exploring options to try to somehow try to rein in this president’s total disregard for the Constitution.”
