Despite a potential lawsuit from Speaker of the House John Boehner hanging over his head, President Barack Obama refused to apologize for his frequent use of executive orders in an interview with ABC News that aired Friday.
Obama even went so far as to call Boehner’s potential suit “a stunt.”
“What I’ve told Speaker Boehner directly is, ‘If you’re really concerned about me taking too many executive actions, why don’t you try getting something done through Congress?’” Obama said.
“You’re going to squawk if I try to fix some parts of it administratively that are within my authority while you’re not doing anything?” he repeated later.
Boehner (R-OH) confirmed to reporters Wednesday that he plans to file a lawsuit against President Obama on behalf of the House for his repeated use of executive action.
“This is about defending the institution in which we serve,” Boehner said. “What we’ve seen clearly over the last five years is an effort to erode the power of the legislative branch. I believe the president is not faithfully executing the laws of our country, and behalf of the institution and our constitution, standing up and fighting for this is in the best long-term interest of the Congress.”
Boehner didn’t specify which executive actions he planned to target with his suit – a point also brought up by Obama in his interview – but Boehner has plenty to choose from. With a stroke of his pen, Obama has extended family leave benefits to same-sex couples, bumped up minimum pay for federal contract workers and made a plethora of changes to Obamacare.
Watch Obama’s interview here:
