If President Obama issues a directive and Republicans don’t object, is it still executive overreach?
Obama on Monday issued an executive order instructing the Office of Personnel Management to “ban the box” on job applications, thereby prohibiting government agencies from initially asking would-be government employees if they have a criminal past. And Republicans were silent.
Overhauling the nation’s criminal justice system is becoming the biggest bipartisan effort on a major issue since the failed 2013 effort to change the nation’s immigration laws.
Eight senators came together last month to introduce and push through the Senate Judiciary Committee the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015. None of the four Republican sponsors of that bill objected to Obama’s moves Monday, which included making it easier for ex-cons to qualify for public housing.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Oversight Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who has sued Obama over the health-care law and frequently criticized his use of executive orders, praised his actions on Tuesday.
“I thank Senator [Cory] Booker for his tremendous leadership on these issues, and am pleased that President Obama recognizes and supports our bipartisan efforts,” stated Johnson, who co-authored a separate bill with the New Jersey Democrat to prevent employers from requiring jobseekers to check a box on job applications if they’ve been convicted of a felony. “I look forward to seeing the ban-the-box initiative implemented legislatively and signed into law.”
The same day, Johnson was blasting the Obama administration for new Environmental Protection Agency rules regarding the Clean Water Act and the definition of “navigable waterways.”
Johnson “is against EPA overregulation. #DitchTheRule #WOTUS,” he tweeted.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and fellow GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, as well as Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who co-authored a similar package in the House, had no immediate complaints. But like Johnson, many of them, were busy taking Obama to task over the EPA issue on Tuesday.
Appearing in New Jersey with Booker on Monday to promote the issue, Obama invoked the effort’s bipartisan nature, and singled out Cornyn specifically.
“[O]ne of Cory’s Republican colleagues, John Cornyn from Texas — no bleeding-heart liberal here — likes to point out, almost all these individuals will eventually be released,” Obama said about the nation’s massive jail population and why lawmakers need to do more to help them rejoin society.
Although none of the sponsoring Republicans praised Obama’s executive actions per se, none immediately condemned it and some, on background through aides, signaled their tacit support of it.
However, when asked for comment, Cornyn, the Senate majority whip, did take a swipe at Obama.
“Instead of acting unilaterally, the president should work with members of both parties to pass real, meaningful reforms to save money and improve outcomes across our federal prison system,” Cornyn said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
