Goodlatte: Court Ruling an Important Step Toward Stopping President Obama’s Power Grab

Washington, D.C.  – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) issued the statement below on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia’s ruling in favor of the House of Representative’s lawsuit challenging the Obama Administration’s use of unappropriated funds to implement the Affordable Care Act.

Chairman Goodlatte: “Today’s ruling by the DC federal court is an important step toward restoring the separation of powers and stopping President Obama’s power grab. The Constitution is very clear: it is Congress’ job to write our laws and it is the President’s duty to enforce them. The Constitution is also clear that Congress has the power of the purse—the President cannot spend Americans’ money on his own terms. Yet President Obama has undermined this fundamental constitutional principle by spending billions of taxpayer dollars on the implementation of Obamacare that were never appropriated for those purposes by Congress by law. “This fight isn’t about partisan politics; it’s about preserving our Republic and protecting individual liberty. If the President is allowed to change laws by himself and use money that has not been appropriated by Congress, he and future presidents can be expected to change more laws that affect Americans’ rights and tax dollars. Both the legislative and judicial branches must put a stop to the executive branch’s abuse of power so that we preserve our system of government for the generations to come.”

In July 2014, the House of Representatives approved H.Res. 676, a resolution authorizing the House to enter into litigation against President Obama for his failure to faithfully execute the laws. The House filed litigation over President Obama’s unilateral changes to Obamacare on November 21, 2014. ###