House Republicans will spend $500 per hour on their lawsuit against President Barack Obama, with a “firm cap” of $350,000.
The contract is between the House general counsel, effectively controlled by the majority House GOP, and David Rivkin of the Washington, D.C.-based law firm BakerHostetler. It’s also signed by Rep. Candice Miller, the chair of the Committee on House Administration.
Democrats quickly cast doubt on the $350,000 cap. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) pointed out that the House GOP ended up spending some $2.3 million to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court despite initially setting that cap at $500,000. She called it a waste of time and taxpayer money.
“We finally know that Republicans have handed a $500-an-hour, no-bid contract to a Washington law firm for a lawsuit that lays the groundwork for impeachment and rallies the most extreme elements of the Republican Party,” she said. “Americans are tired of election-year stunts. They deserve leaders in Washington who will work to build an economy that works for everyone, not line the pockets of wealthy Washington lawyers and other special interests.”
The House voted late July along party lines to sue Obama for unilateral tweaks to Obamacare which Republicans charge violate the statute. It’s the first time in U.S. history that a chamber of Congress has authorized a lawsuit against a sitting president.
Rivkin, poised to be the lead attorney, worked in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. More recently he represented the 26 states which sued to overturn Obamacare as unconstitutional in the landmark case which came before the Supreme Court in 2012.
This is where, if I were a tech-savvy internet kid, I would compile a video of various GOPers declaring over the course of Obama’s time in office, that “We’re broke,” and post it here. That we can’t afford this and can’t afford that. The video would go on for a really long time, and no one would sit through the whole thing, but they’d see that it was over 30 minutes long and be impressed.
Then they’d wonder what I do all day that I have time to sit around and find and edits clips just to score some points on a message board. I’d wonder that too, and possibly allow it to depress me.
When do the war crimes trials for Cheney, Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice and that guy…what’s his name, oh yeah, Dubya begin?
What gov’t program is being cut so that the repubs can afford a lawyer at $500/hr? I’d, as Joe Taxpayer, like to know.
You’ll hafta convince them that the Hague is a wonderful place to visit this time of year
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, think of all the cigarettes and bourbon that could buy.