Obama Dismisses Boehner’s ‘Stunt’ Lawsuit (VIDEO)

President Barack Obama slams House Speaker John Boehner's planned lawsuit over executive actions on "Good Morning America."
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

President Barack Obama on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) plans to bring against him alleging that the President has exceeded his executive authority.

“The suit is a stunt,” Obama told ABC New’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview during a visit to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“You notice that he didn’t specifically say what exactly he was objecting to,” he added. “I’m not going to apologize for trying to do something while they’re doing nothing.”

Boehner has said that the lawsuit is about ensuring the executive branch faithfully executes the law, not about impeachment. The House speaker has so far declined to say which executive actions he’d challenge in the suit.

But if Boehner is truly concerned about executive power being overextended he should try to pass legislation through Congress, Obama told Stephanopoulos. The President offered immigration reform as an example.

“The majority of the American people want immigration reform done,” he said. “We had a bipartisan bill through the Senate, and 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?”

A Boehner spokesman said that Obama’s dismissal only adds to the public’s frustration with the President’s use of executive authority.

“The American people, their elected representatives, and the Supreme Court have all expressed serious concerns about the President’s failure to follow the Constitution,” spokesman Michael Steel said in a statement. “Dismissing them with words like, ‘smidgen’ or ‘stunt’ only reinforces their frustration.”

Watch below, courtesy of ABC:

ABC US News | ABC Sports News

This post has been updated.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: