Republicans on Friday denounced President Obama's executive actions on immigration reform, as one party leader accused the White House of "sabotaging" efforts in the Congress on immigration reform and vowed some sort of legislative response.
"The President has taken actions that he himself has said are the actions of a King or Emperor," said House Speaker John Boehner.
In a statement to reporters just outside his office in the U.S. Capitol, Boehner said the move will not help foster a deal on immigration reform in the new Congress.
"With this action, the President has chosen to deliberately sabotage any chance of enacting bipartisan reforms that he claims to seek," Boehner said.
"And as I told the President yesterday, he's damaging the Presidency itself," Boehner added.
Asked what kind of legislative response Republicans would offer, Boehner gave no details, as GOP leaders struggle to figure out a way forward which does not involve some sort of internal Republican Party showdown over a government shutdown.
Republicans move to target executive actions on Obama health law
A few minutes after the Speaker wrapped up his comments on immigration, his office told reporters that a lawsuit had officially been filed over changes made by the President in the Obama health law.
The suit focuses on changes made to the employer mandate, where Republicans say the President overstepped his legal authority by authorizing delays in both the mandate to cover workers with health insurance and the tax penalties associated with it.
Credit: Jamie Dupree
Credit: Jamie Dupree
"The president’s actions delaying the employer mandate directly contradict the clear and plain language of the health care law," the Speaker's office said in a statement.
Also on Friday, a House panel invited Obama health law adviser Jonathan Gruber to testify - the MIT economist has become a controversial political figure in recent weeks after videos of him surfaced discussing the rationale behind some of the efforts to pass the plan through Congress.
The House Oversight Committee has invited Gruber to testify on December 9.
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