# Why is Boehner even trying this lawsuit thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 8, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651 "2014-07-08T17:12:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/1 "2014-07-08T17:12:08Z")
In his [op-ed](http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/06/opinion/boehner-obama-lawsuit/index.html), Boenher says: > [@](#): > > That’s why, later this month, we will bring legislation to the House floor that would authorize the House of Representatives to file suit in an effort to compel President Obama to follow his oath of office and faithfully execute the laws of our country. If it’s **legislation,** it can’t pass without the Senate’s approval, and the President can veto it, and no way is there a 2/3 majority in both houses for such a thing, nor will there be after the midterms. The suit will never be filed if it takes legislation to authorize it. Boehner must know all this. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/2 "2014-07-08T17:15:37Z")
Of course. But he hasn’t got the stones to bring articles of impeachment to the floor, and the Teabillies are demanding he make some kind of pointless gesture. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/3 "2014-07-08T22:33:46Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > But he hasn’t got the stones to bring articles of impeachment to the floor, and the Teabillies are demanding he make some kind of pointless gesture. This. It’s throwing meat to the crazies. They’ve been doing things like this for decades; going through the motions to placate the extremists, while knowing nothing will come of it. I have my doubts it will do much good; IMHO, part of the reason for the surge in Republican extremism is that the extremists have finally collectively figured out that the Republicans were just giving them empty promises all these years while not actually even trying to push their agenda much. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/4 "2014-07-08T22:56:34Z")
Why doesn’t he just have the house vote to repeal Obamacare another 6 or 8 times? Surely Michelle Bachmann would be willing to sponsor those bills. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/5 "2014-07-08T23:25:49Z")
Is there some actual thing they’re going to sue over, or is it just going to be “to compel President Obama to follow his oath of office and faithfully execute the laws of our country”? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/6 "2014-07-08T23:31:02Z")
I assume he’s doing this because he wants a spectacle and doesn’t know how to juggle. (a) The Senate won’t pass his legislation (b) The President won’t sign his legislation © Per (a) he doesn’t have the votes to override a veto (d) Even assuming those problems magically vanished, he runs into a separation of powers problem ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/7 "2014-07-08T23:32:18Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > Why doesn’t he just have the house vote to repeal Obamacare another 6 or 8 times? Carpal tunnel. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/8 "2014-07-09T01:52:06Z")
Do you think this is the first time someone has pushed legislation thru that they knew wouldn’t pass? Think of the campaign ad: “This is why I proposed legislation to…” or “My opponent opposed legislation to…”. **BG** : Have you really never seen this done before? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/9 "2014-07-09T13:53:47Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Do you think this is the first time someone has pushed legislation thru that they knew wouldn’t pass? Think of the campaign ad: “This is why I proposed legislation to…” > > or “My opponent opposed legislation to…”. > > **BG** : Have you really never seen this done before? Not such a campaign ad, but certainly what it describes, e.g., all those otherwise-futile ACA-repeal bills. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/10 "2014-07-09T14:07:17Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Is there some actual thing they’re going to sue over, or is it just going to be “to compel President Obama to follow his oath of office and faithfully execute the laws of our country”? Well, [that’s a delicate question](http://www.salon.com/2014/07/08/gops_dopey_lawsuit_problem_why_a_political_gambit_is_doomed_to_failure/). For one thing, the suit is going to avoid any mention of immigration. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/11 "2014-07-09T15:43:50Z")
Boehner’s suit authorization resolution is strictly in the House of Representatives, no need for either the Senate or the President to sign off. There are questions over standing and seperation of powers but those are totally different and will be resolved in court. He can sue if he wants to. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/12 "2014-07-09T16:01:58Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Boehner’s suit authorization resolution is strictly in the House of Representatives, no need for either the Senate or the President to sign off. Maybe so, but, cite? “Legislation” is what Boehner calls what he’s seeking, and the House cannot legislate unilaterally. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/13 "2014-07-09T16:05:09Z")
What “legislation” does Boehner wish to pass, other than repealing Obamacare a few dozen more times? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/14 "2014-07-09T16:43:56Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > What “legislation” does Boehner wish to pass, other than repealing Obamacare a few dozen more times? “[L]legislation . . . that would authorize the House of Representatives to file suit in an effort to compel President Obama to follow his oath of office,” etc. From his press release, anyway. [However:](http://www.salon.com/2014/07/08/gops_dopey_lawsuit_problem_why_a_political_gambit_is_doomed_to_failure/) > [@](#): > > Just as everyone finished pretending that some actual news had been made about John Boehner’s plan to sue president Obama, some actual news happened. Roll Call’s Daniel Newhauser reported late yesterday afternoon that Boehner is “moving cautiously toward a late-July vote” on legislation that would authorize the suit, and that “sources on and off Capitol Hill have doubts that Boehner would target any immigration action.” > > I obviously don’t know who Newhaus’ sources are, but if the general feeling coming from people in the know is that Boehner isn’t inclined to tackle immigration with his special little lawsuit, then that’s a pretty good indicator that this is the stunt everyone assumes it to be. > > Over the last couple of weeks, ever since Boehner announced his lawsuit plans, he’s been wrapping himself in the mantles of principle and history. “At various points in our history when the executive branch has attempted to claim for itself the ability to make law,” Boehner’s June 25 memo to colleagues said, “the Legislative Branch has responded, and it is only through such responses that the balance of power envisioned by the Framers has been maintained.” With Boehner’s lawsuit announcement coinciding so closely with the final death of immigration reform and renewed Republican antagonism toward the president’s deportation policies, it felt like Obama’s executive actions on immigration were in Boehner’s cross hairs. > > But the politics of immigration apparently have Boehner spooked. Going after Obama’s executive action to defer deportations for younger undocumented immigrants “could alienate Hispanic voters and give political fodder to those who already seek to paint the Republican Party as nativist,” Newhaus writes. It’s amusing that this could be what’s holding Boehner back; he did everything he could to slow-foot immigration reform and poison the GOP’s attempts at “rebranding” and their standing with Latino voters couldn’t be much worse, so suing the president over immigration would be like setting fire to the ashes. Regardless, Boehner’s preferred target is apparently the post-passage changes made to the Affordable Care Act, which is a crowd-pleaser for the GOP’s conservative base. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/15 "2014-07-09T17:05:53Z")
I thought he said that they should be judged by how much legislation they don’t pass? ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/16 "2014-07-09T17:23:19Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Maybe so, but, cite? “Legislation” is what Boehner calls what he’s seeking, and the House cannot legislate unilaterally. [Here](http://www.lexisnexis.com/help/cu/Serial_Set/About_Bills.htm) is a site that describes various types of votes. > [@](#): > > A simple resolution, H. Res. or S. Res., is a proposal that addresses matters entirely within the prerogative of one Chamber or the other. It requires neither the approval of the other Chamber nor the signature of the President, and it does not have the force of law. Simple resolutions concern the rules of one Chamber or express the sentiments of a single Chamber. For example, a simple resolution may offer condolences to the family of a deceased Member of Congress, or it may express the opinion of one Chamber or the other on foreign policy or other executive business. The background is that Raines vs Byrd found that a group of congressmen who sued over the constitutionality of the line item veto did not have standing because they were an ad hoc group and did not reflect the will of the entire house. By passing this resolution Boehner hopes to show that the House has standing to sue because it has suffered a injury whereas individual members have not. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/17 "2014-07-09T17:36:56Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > By passing this resolution Boehner hopes to show that the House has standing to sue because it has suffered a injury whereas individual members have not. Cite for **that?** It’s far from clear from Boehner’s public statements so far. Nor is it clear that a “resolution” is what he’s planning to bring to the floor. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/18 "2014-07-09T17:38:52Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I thought he said that they should be judged by how much legislation they don’t pass? So they should be; he just has the evaluation-scale inverted. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/19 "2014-07-11T13:51:21Z")
Finally some content! Boehner is going to sue Obama for . . . [not implementing Obamacare fast enough.](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/gop-obama-lawsuit-employer-mandate-108778.html#ixzz377PN2Gpj) > [@](#): > > House Republicans will base their lawsuit against President Barack Obama on the administration’s “unilateral” decision to delay the employer mandate provision in Obamacare, Speaker John Boehner said Thursday. > > Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) released a draft resolution that would authorize the House to move forward with a case against Obama for what House Republicans are characterizing as a broad abuse of executive power. The resolution will be considered by the committee next week and a vote on the House floor is expected by the end of July. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651/20 "2014-07-11T14:08:43Z")
It’s a constitutional issue. They are going after the “abuse of powers”…the fact that it is Obamacare is irrelevant. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-boehner-even-trying-this-lawsuit-thing/692651.md?page=2)