GOP Rep. Insists Lawsuit Against Obama Not Political

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. listens to the testimony of Attorney General Eric Holder, during the committee's hearing on the oversight of the Justice Department, Tuesday, April 8, 201... House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. listens to the testimony of Attorney General Eric Holder, during the committee's hearing on the oversight of the Justice Department, Tuesday, April 8, 2014, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) MORE LESS
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Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), on Sunday defended the GOP’s plan to sue President Obama over his use of executive actions.

“It’s not about our wanting to stop him from doing his job. It’s our wanting to do the job the constitution prescribes,” Goodlatte said about the effort on “Fox News Sunday.”

“It’s very important,” Goodlatte continued. “And this should be bipartisan — people standing up to protect the balance of power.”

Host Chris Wallace then questioned how Republicans could justify a lawsuit when there are other remedies that could be used to curb the president’s power.

Goodlatte again insisted that Congress had the authority to sue Obama.

“We also have the power to bring causes of action when we believe that the President of the United States is exceeding his authority,” he said.

And when Wallace asked Goodlatte if the lawsuit would be pointless since it would probably be dragged out past the end of Obama’s second term, Goodlatte said that the legal process could be sped up and should only take a few months.

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  1. Utter cowardice. If you have the articles, bring the impeachment. If you do not start this Summer there will not be time left on the clock. A lawsuit will take even longer. It’s all angry man talk.

    If a House member is breathing, it’s political.

  2. A Sunday gas bagger who hates Obama. Disregard. But there’s lots of crazy scheduled today. Issa will spew on CNN today, and NBC will have Rinse. Me, I’m going to read the funny papers.

  3. Avatar for marby marby says:

    When Chris Wallace is the one to ask the sane, reasonable questions, you know you are in political “crazy land.”

  4. So, what can a lawsuit possibly achieve? I presume it will be a suit against Obama in his official capacity as President, not as the person Barack Obama (as it happened during the Clinton years). Shall Obama pay a fine? Privately or from the President’s budget? Shall he go to jail? Become disbarred? How to make the punishment fit the crime?

    If the Republicans think it amounts to “high crimes and misdemeanors”, they should impeach him. That is what the constitution provided for in this case. Everything else is pseudo-outraged posturing.

  5. “Not political.” It’s funny how many non partisan concerns the GOP has with Democrats. I guess that’s just how things work out…

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