House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday that House Republicans are looking at the option of suing to block the Obama administration from implementing the nuclear deal with Iran.
“That is an option that is very possible,” Boehner said when asked about a lawsuit during his weekly press conference with reporters on Thursday.
Recommended Stories
Boehner said House Republicans “are pursuing, frankly, a number of options and ideas that members have for what can happen in the weeks to come.”
The lawsuit option could gain traction now that a U.S. District Court judge has agreed the House GOP can sue the Obama administration over its decision to bail out health insurance companies in the Obamacare exchanges with federal dollars.
Boehner on Thursday said the ruling, “sends a strong message that no one, not even the president, is above being held accountable to the Constitution.”
Thursday morning, a House aide told the Washington Examiner that a lawsuit could be based on the argument that Obama failed to give Congress all the documents related to the Iran deal that it needs to assess the agreement. Republicans say that means the 60-day period Congress has to review the deal should never have started.
Republicans are looking beyond congressional action to try to stop the Iran deal now that it appears certain they cannot block it through legislative action. Even if both the GOP-led House and Senate are able to pass a resolution of disapproval of the deal, they lack the two-thirds majority to override a presidential veto.
In the Senate, it’s possible Democrats will block consideration of a disapproval measure. But Boehner said the GOP is not giving up.
“We’ll use every tool at our disposal to stop, slow and delay this agreement from being fully implemented,” Boehner said.
