Obamacare: Republicans in US Congress vote to sue president Barack Obama over healthcare law

Posted 27 minutes agoThu 31 Jul 2014, 12:35pm




The Republican-led US House of Representatives has cleared the way for the launch of a lawsuit accusing president Barack Obama of overstepping his authority in carrying out his signature healthcare law.

The 225-201 vote, along party lines, to authorise the suit will allow House lawyers to draft legal documents over a five-week summer recess starting on Friday.

The planned lawsuit is expected to generate months of bitter campaign rhetoric from both Republicans and Democrats ahead of November elections that will determine the political control of Congress next year.

The suit is expected to claim that Mr Obama exceeded his executive authority in making unilateral changes to the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

Republicans argue that by delaying some healthcare coverage mandates and granting various waivers, he bypassed Congress in violation of the US constitution.

Republicans have complained about other unilateral actions that Mr Obama has taken to advance his agenda, from executive orders on immigration policy to same-sex partner benefits.

But they have narrowly focused the suit on the healthcare law because "it is the option most likely to clear the legal hurdles necessary to succeed", said Republican congressman Pete Sessions, who chairs the House Rules Committee.

"This administration has effectively rewritten the law without following the constitutional process," he said.

Democrats say the lawsuit is a politically motivated waste of taxpayer resources while Congress has failed to act on other pressing issues including emergency funding to deal with a flood of migrant children.

"This is a veiled attempt at impeaching the president," said Democratic congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee.

Reuters