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Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Michele Bachmann Considers Suing Obama Over Canceled Plans Fix
Michele Bachmann Considers Suing Obama Over Canceled Plans Fix
The Huffington Post
|
By Mollie Reilly
Posted: 11/19/2013 4:31 pm EST | Updated: 11/20/2013 11:15 am EST
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said Tuesday that she and several of
her Republican collegaues in the House of Representatives are
considering suing President Barack Obama for allowing plans canceled under the Affordable Care Act to be extended through 2014.
According to Politico,
Bachmann, speaking at an event sponsored by the Heritage Foundation,
accused the president of violating the constitutional separation of
powers by changing the health care law through administrative means,
rather than consulting Congress.
"That's the essence of lawlessness and now it's our time to defend our prerogative," she said.
When asked about the lawsuit by MinnPost, Bachmann's office said a lawsuit was not imminent, but was under discussion.
"She and some of her colleagues have had discussions about the best
recourse to put a stop to his unconstitutional actions," a spokesman
said in a statement.
Last week, facing backlash over plan cancellations under the health care law, Obama asked insurers to let individuals whose plans had been cancelled to renew their plans another year.
"Insurers can extend current plans that otherwise would be canceled
into 2014 and Americans whose plans have been canceled can choose to
re-enroll in the same kind of plan," Obama said. "This fix won't solve
every problem for every person, but it's going to help a lot of people.
Doing more would require work with Congress."
The White House later offered legal justification for Obama's fix to the Washington Post's Greg Sargent.
“The Supreme Court held more than 25 years ago that agencies charged
with administering statues have inherent authority to exercise
discretion to ensure that their statutes are enforced in a manner that
achieves statutory goals and are consistent with other administrative
policies," a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said.
"Agencies may exercise this discretion in appropriate circumstances,
including when implementing new or different regulatory regimes, and to
ensure that transitional periods do not result in undue hardship.”
According to Politico, Bachmann, speaking at an event sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, accused the president of violating the constitutional separation of powers by changing the health care law through administrative means, rather than consulting Congress.
"That's the essence of lawlessness and now it's our time to defend our prerogative," she said.
When asked about the lawsuit by MinnPost, Bachmann's office said a lawsuit was not imminent, but was under discussion.
"She and some of her colleagues have had discussions about the best recourse to put a stop to his unconstitutional actions," a spokesman said in a statement.
Last week, facing backlash over plan cancellations under the health care law, Obama asked insurers to let individuals whose plans had been cancelled to renew their plans another year.
"Insurers can extend current plans that otherwise would be canceled into 2014 and Americans whose plans have been canceled can choose to re-enroll in the same kind of plan," Obama said. "This fix won't solve every problem for every person, but it's going to help a lot of people. Doing more would require work with Congress."
“The Supreme Court held more than 25 years ago that agencies charged with administering statues have inherent authority to exercise discretion to ensure that their statutes are enforced in a manner that achieves statutory goals and are consistent with other administrative policies," a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said. "Agencies may exercise this discretion in appropriate circumstances, including when implementing new or different regulatory regimes, and to ensure that transitional periods do not result in undue hardship.”