The BLAG represented House Republicans in their effort to defend the Defense of Marriage Act before the Supreme Court, which was unsuccessful. But a senior Democratic aide said Wednesday that the BLAG was cut out of the process of approving this lawsuit because Republicans were worried about the optics of [Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi being involved. From there, a federal judge has to decide whether the House has legal standing in its case. That question has lawyers split. For the House to be able to act as a plaintiff in the case, it has to prove that it has in some way been harmed by the defendant—in this case, the president. Constitutional experts—several of whom have been called this month to testify at a hearing for each side—gave their own conflicting views of whether Boehners planned litigation could pass basic legal muster. Republicans have so far declined Democrats demands to speculate on the potential monetary costs of the suit. The suit itself is rooted in the Obama administrations decision to delay the Affordable Care Acts employer mandate. Although it may seem bizarre for John Boehner to push a lawsuit because of a delay in Obamacare, House Republicans are using this as an example of executive overreach. As they see it, Obama overstepped his authority by delaying the mandate without turning to Congress, and as such is not faithfully executing the law. Last July, the Obama administration delayed the employer mandate, which was supposed to take effect this year, until 2015. In February, the administration again delayed the mandate, pushing it back to 2016 for businesses with 50 to 99 full-time workers. The mandate is the requirement in the ACA that employers with 50 or more full-time employees provide health care or pay a fine.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 17:36:28 +0000
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