The White House Had A Peculiar Response To John Boehner's Strategy For Suing Obama
After receiving what he said were multiple inquiries from reporters for a response to Boehner, White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz tweeted out a link to a column from RedState editor in chief and conservative columnist Erick Erickson, an influential voice on the opposite side of the political spectrum:
Erickson argued in his post that Boehner and House Republicans shouldn't waste time and taxpayer money with a lawsuit - which, incidentally, is the argument the White House has pushed as well.
The Obama administation though, definitely wouldn't agree with Erickson's ultimate solution - taking on the White House using the "power of the purse" under the U.S. Constitution, which James Madison once called Congress' "most complete and effectual weapon" as a check of power on the executive. That means picking fights over things like raising the debt ceiling and bold moves like being willing to stare down Obama in situations like last year's government shutdown, Erickson wrote. However, other points in Erickson's piece clearly appealed to the White House.
"John Boehner's lawsuit is nothing more than political theater and a further Republican waste of taxpayer dollars. If the Republican leaders in the House are too chicken to use their constitutional powers to rein in the President, they should just call it a day and go home," Erickson wrote.
When asked by Business Insider what he made of the White House tweeting out a link to his column, Erickson quipped, "Maybe if they read RedState more often, they wouldn't be so incompetent."
Boehner said in his op-ed that Obama has continually overstepped his constitutional authority, forcing his hand in a coming lawsuit set to be filed by the House of Representatives. For the first time on Sunday, he detailed specific areas the House will likely target, including Obama's actions with regard to the Affordable Care Act, energy regulations, foreign policy, and education.