House Republicans will launch a two-pronged attack next week against what they say is a string of decisions from President Obama to ignore the will of Congress and the letter of the law.
Republicans have cited the numerous delays and adjustments to ObamaCare and Obama’s 2011 decision to delay deportation proceedings against noncriminal illegal immigrants as prime examples of nonenforcement. In response, GOP leaders will call up two bills to fight back.
{mosads}One is the ENFORCE Act, H.R. 4138, which would allow the House or Senate to authorize legal action against the administration’s willful neglect of the law. These lawsuits would first be heard by a three-judge panel, and any appeals would be directed to the Supreme Court.
The ENFORCE Act is similar to other Republican bills that have been proposed over the last few months. This latest version was introduced this week by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), and it’s supported by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.).
“We have pursued certain remedies afforded to Congress to address executive overreach, but these efforts have been thwarted,” Gowdy said earlier this week. “This bill is necessary; it will give Congress the authority to defend this branch of government as the framers and our fellow citizens would expect.”
Republicans will also bring up the Faithful Execution of the Law Act, H.R. 3973. This bill from Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) would require the government to report to Congress whenever a decision has been made not to enforce the law and explain why that decision was made.
“President Obama has not only failed to uphold several of our nation’s laws, he has vowed to continue to do so in order to enact his unpopular agenda,” DeSantis said in January when he offered his bill. “The president assured the public that his administration would be the most transparent in history, and while the President has fallen woefully short on this promise, my bill will be a step in the right direction.
“The American people deserve to know exactly which laws the Obama administration is refusing to enforce and why.”